Theyab Awana Ahmed Husain Al Messabi (; 8 April 1990 – 25 September 2011) was an Emirati 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 winger for

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

club

Baniyas Baniyas ( ') is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, western Syria, located south of Latakia and north of Tartous. It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and its export of wood. North of the city is an B ...

and the United Arab Emirates national team. His playing style and ability drew comparisons to former Emirati international Zuhair Bakhit.

International career

Youth

Theyab played for the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

(UAE) in the first match of the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. 2–0 down in the 90th minute of play, Hamdan Al Kamali converted a

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 ...

to make the score 2–1 in the first minute of stoppage time; Theyab scored from a cross from Ahmed Ali to snatch a last-minute equaliser before the final whistle a few seconds later.

Senior

Theyab was brought to worldwide fame for the penalty kick scored with a back-heel in a

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 ...

against

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 ...

on 17 July 2011. In the 78th minute, with the score at 5–2, a penalty was given to the UAE. Theyab took the penalty and, halfway through his path to the ball, he turned around and kicked the ball into the goal with his right heel. The coach reacted badly on the effort, and Theyab was immediately subbed off for the bad reception he received for the penalty. The incident was brought to prominence after a video of the kick was put on

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, which currently has over 2,800,000 views. The match ended 6–2 for the UAE.

Death and legacy

Awana died on 25 September 2011, aged 21, in a car accident in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. According to reports, his

Audi Q7 The Audi Q7 is a crossover SUV made by the German manufacturer Audi, unveiled in September 2005 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Production of this seven-seater SUV began in November 2005 at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. ...

SUV crashed on the

Sheikh Zayed Bridge Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

when he was returning to Abu Dhabi from

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

after the end of a training session for the national team. The report stated he was using his phone at the time of the accident. Awana died at the scene. Rumours surfaced that his brother was also with him in the car during the time of the accident and rushed into intensive care before dying several hours later. However, Baniyas Club denied this rumor. He was buried on 26 September 2011, immediately after the

Asr prayer Asr () is the 3rd of the 5 mandatory five daily Islamic prayers. The Asr prayer consists of four obligatory cycles, rak'a. As with Dhuhr, if it is performed in congregation, the imam is silent except when announcing the takbir, i'tidal, a ...

, in the Baniyas Cemetery in Shamkha, Abu Dhabi. A month after Awana's death, the

United Arab Emirates Football Association The United Arab Emirates Football Association (UAE FA; ) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer and futsal in the United Arab Emirates. Association staff President The following is a list of selected presidents of the U ...

christened a newly-built stadium in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

the "Theyab Awana Stadium". A mosque in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

was also named after him.

Career statistics

Club

International

: ''Scores and results list the United Arab Emirates's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Awana goal''.

Honours

Baniyas * UAE Division 2 Group A: 2008–09 United Arab Emitates U17 *

GCC U-17 Championship The GCC U-17 Championship is an annual international association football, football competition organised by the Gulf Cooperation Council. 2001 was the first edition of the tournament and was played in a Round-robin tournament, round-robin group o ...

: 2006 United Arab Emirates U19 *

AFC U-19 Championship The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

United Arab Emirates U23 *

GCC U-23 Championship The GCC U-23 Championship is an annual international football competition organised by the Gulf Cooperation Council. The first edition of the tournament was held in 2008 and was played in a round-robin group of five nations. Records ' A round- ...

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 ...

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

silver medal:

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Awana, Theyab 1990 births 2011 deaths Footballers from Abu Dhabi Emirati men's footballers 21st-century Emirati sportsmen Men's association football wingers Baniyas Club players UAE First Division League players UAE Pro League players United Arab Emirates men's youth international footballers United Arab Emirates men's international footballers 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for the United Arab Emirates Asian Games footballers for the United Arab Emirates Road incident deaths in the United Arab Emirates Asian Games silver medalists in football