Saad Abdul-Salaam (born September 8, 1991) 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 defender.

Career

Early career

Born in Charlotte,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, Abdul-Salaam grew up in

Gahanna, Ohio Gahanna is a city in northeastern Franklin County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 35,726 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was founded in 1849. History Gahanna was founded al ...

where he played for the local high school side that won the state championship in 2009. Abdul-Salaam then went on to attend the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

where he played for the

Akron Zips The Akron Zips are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, United States. The Zips compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level as a memb ...

Sporting Kansas City

After his four-years at Akron, Abdul-Salaam was drafted as the twelfth overall pick during the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Janua ...

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

. On May 19, 2015, Abdul-Salaam was recalled from his loan with the

San Antonio Scorpions The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadi ...

by Sporting Kansas City.

San Antonio Scorpions (loan)

On April 1, 2015, it was announced that Abdul-Salaam would be loaned out to the

for the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

spring season. He made his professional debut for the team on April 4 against the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. He started the match and played the full 90 as San Antonio fell 3–1.

Returning to Kansas City

He was called back on May 20, 2015. He was subbed on for Krisztian Nemeth in the 90th minute making his first MLS appearance. He finished the 2015 season starting 10 games and played 22 games and had 1 assist. In the playoffs he made the most iconic moment. In the penalty shoot out against the Portland Timbers, he had the chance to win it all but he instead hit both goal posts and the ball went out. In 2016, his sophomore season, he played in 30 games, scoring none but having 6 assists which was more assists than any other SKC player that season. In 2017 he scored his first professional goal in the team's 3–0 win against Minnesota United on June 21.

New York City

On December 14, 2017, it was announced that Abdul-Salaam was traded to

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

in exchange for

Khiry Shelton Khiry Lamar Shelton (; born June 26, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City. He has also represented the United States at the under-18 and under-23 levels. Club career Coll ...

. He was loaned to

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. They won the league championship in 2023, defeating the ...

on August 13, 2018.

Seattle Sounders FC

On February 26, 2019, Abdul-Salaam's rights were traded to

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

in exchange for $50,000 of Targeted Allocation Money. He was released by Seattle at the end of the 2019 season.

FC Cincinnati

On December 3, 2019, Abdul-Salaam was selected by

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 ...

in Stage Two of the 2019 MLS Re-Entry Process.

Columbus Crew

On April 17, 2021, Abdul-Salaam was selected off waivers by

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

, who had been waived a few days earlier by Cincinnati following their acquisition of

Edgar Castillo Edgar Eduardo Castillo Carrillo (born October 8, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a left-back. Castillo is noted for being one of five players to earn a senior cap for both sides of the United States-Mexico ...

. Following the 2021 season, Columbus opted to decline their contract option on Abdul-Salaam.

San Antonio FC

On June 22, 2022, San Antonio FC announced that they signed Abdul-Salaam for the remainder of the 2022 season.

Career statistics

Honors

Seattle Sounders FC *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

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 ...

Columbus Crew *

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

San Antonio FC

* USL Championship (regular season):

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

* USL Championship Final:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul-Salaam, Saad 1991 births Living people Akron Zips men's soccer players Capital FC players Sporting Kansas City players San Antonio Scorpions players New York City FC players Phoenix Rising FC players Seattle Sounders FC players Tacoma Defiance players FC Cincinnati players Columbus Crew players San Antonio FC players Men's association football defenders Sporting Kansas City draft picks USL League Two players Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players American men's soccer players Soccer players from Ohio USL Championship players 21st-century American sportsmen