Mohamad Mahmoud Ghaddar (; born 1 January 1984) is a Lebanese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward. Coming through the youth system, Ghaddar began his senior career at Nejmeh in 2000. He stayed nine years at the club, winning multiple domestic and individual titles. In 2009, Ghaddar moved abroad, joining Al-Shabab in Bahrain, then Egyptian side

Al Ahly Al-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional football team which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest ...

in 2010, helping them win the league title. Following stints in Syria at Tishreen in 2010 and Al-Jaish in 2011, Ghaddar moved to Malaysia at

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

and FELDA United. He then returned to the Middle East, where he played for Al-Faisaly and Naft Al-Wasat between 2014 and 2017. Ghaddar returned to Kelantan, before moving to

Johor Darul Ta'zim Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore to the south and Indonesia to the east and w ...

, winning the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

as the top scorer. Following a second return to Kelantan and a stint at Johor Darul Ta'zim II, he returned to Nejmeh in Lebanon in 2020, where he retired two years later. Ghaddar made his senior international debut for

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 2006. He represented his country in the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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 ...

and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Ghaddar also took part in other competitions, namely the

2007 WAFF Championship The 2007 West Asian Football Federation Championship was held in Jordan's capital Amman. Iran won the final against Iraq 2–1. The 6 entrants were Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and host nation Jordan. The finals took place between 16 a ...

, 2009 King's Cup and 2009 Nehru Cup. With 19 goals in 46 appearances, Ghaddar is Lebanon's third-highest goalscorer.

Club career

Nejmeh

Ghaddar started his youth career at Nejmeh on 26 February 1998. After graduating from the youth academy he made his first-team debut two years later, and was a member of the squad that claimed the 1999–00 season title, which was the club's first

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...

title for over 20 years. Over the course of the decade, Ghaddar went on to claim another four league titles and pick up successive league top-scorer awards, while cementing his reputation as one of Lebanon's finest strikers.

Al Shabab

In December 2009, Ghaddar signed for

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main domestic football competition in the kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1956-1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify f ...

side Al-Shabab for the 2009–10 season. On 18 March 2010, Ghaddar scored his first goal for Al-Shabab in a 3–1 win over

Muharraq Muharraq () is Bahrain's third most populous city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2020 was 263,373. Muharraq served as the country’s capital until 1932. It rose to prominenc ...

. Two weeks later, he scored a brace against

Busaiteen Busaiteen or Beseytin () is a small town in northern Bahrain. It is located on Muharraq Island, just north of Muharraq City. The town is historically a Sunni-majority area, although in recent years some Shi’ite residents have started moving int ...

in a 3–1 away win on 2 April. On 15 May, Ghaddar scored his second league brace in a 2–1 win against Malkiya. His five goals in six games at the end of the season helped the club avoid relegation to the second division.

Al Ahly

Ghaddar signed a four-year-contract with Egypt's

for the 2010–11 Egyptian Premier League season, become the first Lebanese player to sign for the Egyptian team. Ghaddar debuted for Al Ahly on 6 August 2010, in a 0–0 draw with Ittihad El-Shorta where he was substituted onto the field for Mohamed Talaat after 76 minutes. He made an appearance during the 2010 CAF Champions League group stage on 12 September 2010, in a 2–1 win against Nigerian side Heartland where he was substituted onto the field for

Mohamed Fadl Mohamed Fadl () is a retired Egyptian football player. Fadl played for the Egypt national football team in the 2008 African Cup of Nations. Fadl also played for the Egypt national under-17 football team in the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship ...

in the 76th minute. Ghaddar was released by the club after just six months of his handful of appearances.

Syria

Ghaddar joined the Syrian club Tishreen for the 2010–11 season, but eventually joined Al-Jaish the same year.

Kelantan

Ghaddar joined

2011 Malaysia Super League The 2011 Liga Super Malaysia () is the eighth season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.Kelantan FA Kelantan Football Club () was a Malaysian professional football club based in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Founded in 1946, the club had a long-standing rivalry with Terengganu. The two east coast clubs were involved in the East Coast Derby. Their ...

on 8 November 2011, signing a two-year contract with the club. After his

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

-duty, he officially joined Kelantan on 29 December 2011, scoring a 90th-minute

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

on his first appearance in a 3–1 win against

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

during a pre-season

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

.FRIENDLY : KELANTAN TEWASKAN PERAK
Retrieved from KelantanFA.com at 2 December 2011 He started the season scoring three goals; however, he was deregistered from Kelantan's Super League squad in February, and replaced by

Onyekachi Nwoha Onyekachi Paul Nwoha (born 28 February 1983 in Aba) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Onyekachi Nwoha began his career with FC Spiders, before he transferred to Enyimba International in 2001. He played for the Ab ...

. After his impressive performance in the

2012 AFC Cup The 2012 AFC Cup was the ninth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia. Al-Kuwait from Kuwait won their second AFC Cup title in four year ...

, scoring six times in four appearances, he was re-registered to the league squad in April, at the expense of Nwoha. He scored on his return to the Super League against PBDKT T-Team, through a penalty in a 2–1 win on 17 April 2012. Ghaddar helped Kelantan win the

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup () is an annual association football, football competition in Malaysia, established in 1990. It was previously managed by the Football Association of Malaysia, before being transferred to the Football Malaysia LLP, Malaysian ...

for the first time, beating

Sime Darby Sime Darby Berhad, referred to as Sime, is a Malaysian trading conglomerate. Its core businesses operate and serve in the industrial equipment and automotive sectors. Background The modern Sime Darby Berhad corporation was created in 2007 t ...

1–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 19 May 2012. He scored the only goal in the final, converting a penalty in the 58th minute.

FELDA United

After Ghaddar had refused to extend his contract with Kelantan, he signed a one-year contract with FELDA United. He scored a goal on his debut, which helped his club draw 1–1 against

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and States and federal territories of Malaysia, federal state of Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l-Iman (c ...

in the opening match. In March 2013, Ghaddar experienced a back injury and was unable to play for his team; FELDA decided to replace him and signed a new foreigner player during the April transfer window.

Return to Kelantan

Ghaddar made a return to

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

after signing a two-year contract with his former club, Kelantan. He scored a brace in his return against

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

in the opening day of the 2014 season, which Kelantan won 2–1. On 23 April, his contract was terminated by Kelantan.

Naft Al Wasat

On 2 December 2014, Ghaddar joined Naft Al-Wasat in Iraq.

Second Return to Kelantan

Ghaddar re-signed for the third time with Kelantan after he was unveiled as one of their new import players on 15 January 2017. He scored two goals during his 2017 season debut against PKNS. Ghaddar scored 18 goals in 11 matches for Kelantan.

Johor Darul Ta'zim

After much speculation about his future, on 16 May 2017

announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Ghaddar for an undisclosed fee. It was reported that Ghaddar had cost around RM 1,000,000 to RM 5,000,000 and he was reported to be paid from RM 170,000 to RM 200,000 monthly which will make him the highest wage receiver in Malaysia football history. Ghaddar made his debut for Johor Darul Ta'zim in a 1–0 win over PKNS, and provided the assist for the winning goal of the match on 24 May 2017. Ghaddar scored his first goal for Johor Darul Ta'zim in a 2–0 home win over

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

on 1 July 2017. On 15 July 2017, Ghaddar scored two goals in five games as his club defeated

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

3–1. He then scored another two goals on 22 July 2017 against T-Team and, on 26 July 2017, against Perak. Ghaddar concluded his season with five goals in 10 league appearances for Johor Darul Ta'zim. In November 2017,

Melaka United Melaka United Football Club () was a Malaysian professional football club based in Malacca that competed in the Malaysia Super League. They were owned by Kenteam Sdn Bhd, which is one of main nitrile glove producers in Malaysia. The club's hom ...

showed their interest in signing Ghaddar on a season-long move. On 22 November 2017, Ghaddar rejected Melaka United's offer. He was released from the club after the 2017 season.

Fourth return to Kelantan

On 12 February 2018, Ghaddar returned to Kelantan for a fourth time, before the transfer window closed on 11 February, replacing Morgaro Gomis who was reportedly injured. Ghaddar made his debut in 3–2 win over Perak on 24 February 2018, at Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium. After suffering from ACL injuries and a loss of form, his contract was terminated by mutual consent on May.

Johor Darul Ta'zim II

Ghaddar made his debut for

Malaysian Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional Association football, football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. T ...

side Johor Darul Ta'zim II, the reserve team of Johor Darul Ta'zim, in 2–1 win over

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

on 2 February 2019, scoring a header to equalise the game. Ghaddar scored seven goals in 15 league games.

Return to Nejmeh

On 7 September 2020, Ghaddar returned to Nejmeh in Lebanon. He retired in June 2022, at the end of the 2021–22 season, aged 38.

International career

Youth

Ghaddar played for the Lebanon national under-20 football team alongside national teammates Ali El Atat and Ramez Dayoub. During the qualification for the 2004 Summer Olympics, Ghaddar was part of the Lebanese under-23 team that made it to the final round of the Asian qualifiers.

Senior

On 8 September 2014, Ghaddar scored a goal against the Brazil Olympic team in a 2–2 draw. On 12 June 2017, Ghaddar refused a call-up to the national team for a match against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, where he was playing his club football. He did not appear for the national team since.

Controversies

League match controversy

On 12 June 2012, Mohd Amri Yahyah and Mohd Bunyamin Omar physically attacked Ghaddar in a Malaysian Super League match. During the game, Ghaddar was left in pain after Amri Yahyah unsportingly punched his private parts. Ghaddar took a few minutes to recover as he laid on the ground. Following the incident, Selangor's Amri Yahyah and Bunyamin Omar were handed three-match suspensions and fined RM 1,500 each, while Ghaddar was handed a one-match suspension and fined RM 2,000 by the Disciplinary Committee of the

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (commonly abbreviated as FAM; ) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia, headquartered at Wisma FAM. The FAM is also one of the founding members of both the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) a ...

Kelantan FA controversy

Ghaddar was brought to the disciplinary committee of Kelantan FA after he failed to report to the team on 5 August 2012, for their

2012 Malaysia Cup The 2012 Malaysia Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Malaysia 2012'') was the 86th edition of Malaysia Cup. The competition began on 24 August 2012 and ended on 20 October 2012 with the final, held at Shah Alam Stadium. A total of 16 teams took part in the comp ...

campaign that would begin on 22 August. He arrived on 16 August, after he had returned to Lebanon to get married after the

2012 Malaysia Super League The 2012 Liga Super () also known as the Astro Liga Super for sponsorship reasons is the ninth season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional association football, football league in Malaysia.

season ended on 14 July 2012.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ghaddar goal.''

Honours

The Lebanon national team's technical unit honoured Ghaddar for being the top scorer of the

2007 AFC Cup The 2007 AFC Cup was the fourth edition of the AFC Cup, playing among clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. Qualification The 13 'developing' nations in the Asian Football Confederation were invited to nominate ...

. National team coach

Emile Rustom Emile Boulos Rustom (; born 27 March 1952) is a Lebanese Association football, football coach and former player who an advisor for club Sagesse SC (football), Sagesse. After playing with Sagesse SC (football), Sagesse for 22 years, and the Leb ...

presented Ghaddar the golden boot during a ceremony at the Meridien Commodore hotel in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. On 28 March 2021, the AFC nominated Ghaddar among the best all-time strikers of the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

. Nejmeh *

: 2003–04, 2004–05 *

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in domestic Lebanese football. In the first FA Cup final, held on 26 June 1938, Nahda beat Hilmi-Sport 3–2 in the replay (after drawing 1� ...

: 2021–22 *

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () was a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was played by the top five finisher ...

: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 *

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

: 2002, 2004 Al Ahly *

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League (), also known as the Nile League () for sponsorship reasons, after the addition of title sponsor Nile Developments, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the highest level of the Egyptian football ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Kelantan *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Johor Darul Ta'zim * Malaysia Super League:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* Malaysia Cup:

Johor Darul Ta'zim II *

Malaysia Challenge Cup The MFL Challenge Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Cabaran MFL''), which was previously referred to as the Malaysia Challenge Cup, is a prestigious football tournament in Malaysia that is organized under the joint supervision and management of the Malaysian ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season: 2006–07, 2007–08 *

top scorer:

* Lebanese Premier League top scorer: 2006–07, 2007–08 *

top scorer: 2017

References

External links

*
Mohamad Ghaddar
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghaddar, Mohamad 1984 births Living people Footballers from Beirut Lebanese men's footballers 21st-century Lebanese sportsmen Men's association football forwards Nejmeh SC players Al-Shabab Club (Manama) players Al Ahly SC players Tishreen SC players Al-Jaish SC (Syria) players Kelantan F.C. players FELDA United F.C. players Naft Al-Wasat SC players AC Tripoli players Al-Faisaly SC players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players Johor Darul Ta'zim II F.C. players Lebanese Premier League players Bahraini Premier League players Egyptian Premier League players Syrian Premier League players Malaysia Super League players Jordanian Pro League players Iraq Stars League players Malaysia Premier League players Lebanese expatriate men's footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Syria Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Jordan Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Iraq Expatriate men's footballers in Bahrain Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Syria Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Jordan Expatriate men's footballers in Iraq Lebanon men's youth international footballers Lebanon men's international footballers Lebanese Premier League top scorers