Kenneth Hasan "Kenny" Saief (, ; born ) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

. He played for

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

internationally at both youth and senior levels, before switching allegiance to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Early life

Saief was born in

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Route 98 in Florida, U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Pe ...

, U.S., to Druze-Israeli parents; the family returned to

when he was three.

Club career

Saief began his professional career with

Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Sakhnin F.C. (, , ) is an Israeli professional football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful club among the Arab-Israeli clubs in the country, having won the State Cup in 2004. History Early years Bn ...

in 2011, before he was transferred to

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli professional football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups (1962–63, 1965–66 and 1973–74, 2 ...

one season later. The next year, he moved to Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona and reached the final of the

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

. Saief made only two appearances however, which resulted in a transfer to

Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon Football Club () is an Israeli football club based in Ramat HaSharon. Founded in 1957, the club is currently competing in Liga Leumit, and plays its home matches at Grundman Stadium. History The club was founded in 195 ...

. There he gained more playing opportunities. Saief attracted the attention of Belgian Pro League team K.A.A. Gent, who signed him for a three-year deal on August 8, 2014. Saief's first season at the club saw him with the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

title. After four seasons at Gent, Saief officially signed to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

in May 2018. On March 6, 2019, Saief was loaned to

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. On March 24, 2019, Saief scored his first MLS goal against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

. On June 11, 2019, Saief's loan was terminated due to injury complications. On February 12, 2020, he was loaned to Polish Ekstraklasa's

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Gdańsk. As of the 2025–26 Ekstraklasa, 2025–26 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa. The club was founded in 1945 by people Polish population transfers (1944–1946 ...

until the end of 2019–20 season. On 1 July 2022, Saief signed a two-year contract with

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

club Neftçi. On 14 December 2023, Saief left Neftçi. On 19 December 2023 signed for

International career

Saief has represented the Israel national team at various youth levels. He reportedly stated that he expected to play for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, although he was called up to the Israel national team and made his debut in a friendly 2–1 loss to

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. On June 3, 2017, Saief was called up by the United States as part of their 40-man preliminary roster for the

2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF, and 24th CONCACAF regional championship ove ...

. As part of his callup, Saief filed a one-time switch with FIFA, tying him permanently to the US program. On June 22, 2017, U.S. Soccer confirmed that Saief had been approved by FIFA for a change of association. He was chosen to make his first start for the United States against Paraguay on March 27, 2018.

Career statistics

Honors

Gent *

: 2014–15 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saief, Kenny 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Panama City, Florida Men's association football midfielders American men's soccer players Soccer players from Florida Footballers from Isfiya Naturalized citizens of Israel United States men's international soccer players Israel men's under-21 international footballers Israel men's international footballers American people of Israeli descent American Druze people Arab citizens of Israel Israeli Druze people Arab-Israeli footballers Druze sportspeople Hapoel Haifa F.C. players Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Beitar Nes Tubruk F.C. players TSV 1860 Munich players Bnei Sakhnin F.C. players Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon F.C. players KAA Gent players R.S.C. Anderlecht players FC Cincinnati players Lechia Gdańsk players F.C. Ashdod players Neftçi PFK players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Israeli Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Major League Soccer players Ekstraklasa players Azerbaijan Premier League players Israeli expatriate men's footballers American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Germany Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Poland Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium American expatriate sportspeople in Poland American expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Dual internationalists (men's football) 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Israeli sportsmen