Ettifaq FC

Al-Ettifaq FC

Full name	Al-Ettifaq Football Club
Nickname(s)	Faris Ad-Dahna (The Knight of Ad-Dahna) The Commandos Itti Al-Sharqiya (Itti of the Eastern Province, a nod to Al-Ittihad)
Founded	1945 (1945)
Ground	Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Capacity	26,000
Chairman	Khalid Al-Dabal
Manager	Leonardo Ramos
League	Saudi Professional League
2017–18	Saudi Professional League, 4th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Al-Ettifaq Football Club (Arabic: نادي الاتفاق لكرة القدم‎) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Dammam. 'Ittifaq' is Arabic for cooperation. Al Ettifaq was established after the merging of three clubs in the city of Dammam at the year 1944. Al Ettifaq is the first Saudi team to win an international title – the 1984 Arab Club Champions Cup. Al Ettifaq is also the first team to win the Saudi Premier League without any defeat. Al Ettifaq is also the first side from Saudi Arabia to win the Gulf Champions Cup. Al Ettifaq have a total of 13 different titles to their name.

Achievements

• Saudi Premier League: 2
  • Champions: 1983, 1987
• Crown Prince Cup: 1
  • Champions: 1965
  • Runner-up (4): 1963, 2001, 2008, 2012
• King's Cup: 2
  • Champions: 1968, 1985
  • Runner-up (4): 1965, 1966, 1983, 1988
• Saudi Federation cup: 3
  • Champions: 1991, 2003, 2004
  • Runner-up (4): 1987, 1995, 1996, 2005
• Arab Champions League: 2
  • Champions: 1984, 1988
• Gulf Club Champions Cup: 3
  • Champions: 1983, 1988, 2006
  • Runner-up (1): 2007

Performance in AFC competitions

• Asian Club Championship: 1 appearance
  • Asian Club Championship 1989:

• • Qualifying Round: Al Ettifaq qualified to the Asian Club Championship after winning the GCC Champions League, ending top of the group that consisted of Kazma (Kuwait), Al Sharjah (UAE), Fanja (Oman), and West Riffa (Bahrain).

• • Semi-final (Group Stage): Al Ettifaq finished second in their group after losing their penultimate game against the eventual champions, Qatari side Al-Sadd (2–1) in a highly controversial game. Apart from the two clubs, the group contained April 25 SC (North Korea), Mohammedan SC (Bangladesh), and Pahang (Malaysia).^[1]

• AFC Champions League: 2 appearances

• • AFC Champions League 2009:

• • • • Group Stage – Round of 32: Al Ettifaq was arguably one of the best performers in the group stage after finishing top of the group with 12 points. They won 4 games, lost 2, and scored 15 goals in 6 games, recording the third best attacking stats in the continent in that round. Al Ettifaq were placed in Group D along FC Bunyodkor (led by Brazilian ace Rivaldo), Sepahan Isfahan, and Al Shabab (UAE).
      • Round of 16: Al Ettifaq were knocked from the Round of 16 against Pakhtakor (UZB). After leading 1–0 at halftime, they conceded two late goals that ended their hopes in qualifying to the quarter-final.^[2]

• • AFC Champions League 2012:

• • • • The draw was held on 6 December 2011 in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.^[3]
      • Al Ettifaq were placed in the second round of the qualifying stages, playing against the winner of the two Iranian sides: Esteghlal Tehran FC and Zob Ahan Isfahan FC.
      • Al-Ettifaq lost the one-off game played on 18 February 2012 in Iran against Esteghlal Tehran FC and eventually went directly to the group stages of the 2012 AFC Cup.
• AFC Cup: 1 appearance

• • AFC Cup 2012:

• • • • After failing to qualify to the group stage of the 2012 AFC Champions League, Al-Ettifaq qualified automatically to the 2012 AFC Cup, and were drawn in Group C with Kuwait SC of Kuwait, Al Ahed of Lebanon, and VB Sports Club of the Maldives.
      • Al Ettifaq started the competition as favorites and a strong candidate to win the competition, winning 5–1 in their first group game against Kuwait SC in Kuwait. The second game was frustrating to the Saudis as they drew in their own stadium 0–0 with Al Ahed. They defeated the underdogs of the group VB Sports Club by 6–3 in the Maldives and 2–0 in the reverse fixture. Al Ettifaq sealed their promotion with a 2–2 draw against Kuwait SC before finishing the group with a 3–1 victory in Lebanon against Al Ahed.
      • Al Ettifaq finished off their season with a hard-fought 1–0 victory against Omani side Al-Suwaiq SC in the Round of 16 to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Current squad

First team squad

As of 27 September 2018:^[4]

No Position Player Nation 4 Defender Faisel Abu Bakr  Saudi Arabia 6 Midfielder Hamed Al-Ghamdi  Saudi Arabia 7 Midfielder Mohammed Al-Kwikbi  Saudi Arabia 8 Midfielder Osama Al-Khalaf  Saudi Arabia 9 Forward Hazaa Al-Hazaa  Saudi Arabia 10 Midfielder Hassan Al-Habib  Saudi Arabia 11 Midfielder Ali Hazazi  Saudi Arabia 12 Defender Hussein Salem  Saudi Arabia 13 Defender Osama Al-Selim  Saudi Arabia 14 Midfielder Filip Kiss  Slovakia 19 Midfielder Cristian Guanca (on loan from Colón)  Argentina 20 Midfielder Abdulaziz Majrashi  Saudi Arabia 21 Defender Ramon Arias  Uruguay 22 Goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Bahri  Saudi Arabia 23 Midfielder Brahian Alemán  Uruguay 24 Midfielder Abdurahman Al-Aboud  Saudi Arabia 25 Defender Saeed Al-Robeai  Saudi Arabia 29 Midfielder Mohammed Al-Sobeai  Saudi Arabia 30 Goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Saleh  Saudi Arabia 33 Defender Hussein El Sayed (on loan from Al Ahly)  Egypt 34 Defender Ali Al-Khaibari  Saudi Arabia 35 Goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Haiti  Saudi Arabia 40 Midfielder Ibrahim Mahnashi  Saudi Arabia 47 Midfielder Ahmed Al-Dohaim  Saudi Arabia 50 Defender Saad Al Khairi  Saudi Arabia 70 Defender Omar Al-Sonain  Saudi Arabia 72 Defender Khalifah AMasrahi  Saudi Arabia 77 Defender Ahmed Al-Habib  Saudi Arabia 80 Midfielder Farley  Brazil 88 Midfielder Saad Al-Selouli  Saudi Arabia 92 Goalkeeper Raïs M'Bolhi  Algeria 99 Forward Fakhreddine Ben Youssef  Tunisia

Out on loan

No Position Player Nation 17 Forward Nawaf Bo Amer (on loan to Al-Khaleej)  Saudi Arabia 18 Midfielder Fawaz Al-Trais (on loan to Al-Khaleej)  Saudi Arabia — Midfielder Hassan Ghazwani (on loan to Al-Nahda)  Saudi Arabia — Forward Mohammed Al-Saiari (on loan to Al-Hazem)  Saudi Arabia Managerial history Note: The table is currently being updated. 1944–69 19??–69 Mohammed Hassan Kheiri 1969–76 1976–78 Khalil Al-Zayani 1979–80 1980–84 Khalil Al-Zayani Coincided with the most successful period of the club (4 titles). 1984–86 1986–90 Khalil Al-Zayani Won 3 titles. 1990–91 Procópio Cardoso 1991–93 July 1, 1993 – June 30, 1995 Wojciech Łazarek 1994–96 Khalil Al-Zayani 1996–97 1997 João Francisco 1997–99 1999–00 Khalil Al-Zayani 2003–04 Jan Versleijen Jan 1, 2004 – May 30, 2004 Jorge Habegger 2005–06 Ednaldo Patricio 2006–07 Ammar Al-Suwayeh 2006 Gulf Club Champions Cup (Winner). July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008 Toni Oliveira 2007 Gulf Club Champions Cup (Runner-up). Jan 8, 2009 – June 8, 2009 Ioan Andone Achieved club's best performance in the AFC Champions League (Round of 16). Oct 23, 2009 – March 23, 2011 Ion Marin March 23, 2011 – June 30, 2011 Youssef Zouaoui July 22, 2011 – April 30, 2012 Branko Ivanković 2012 Ammar Al-Suwayeh July 1, 2012 – Sept 25, 2012 Alain Geiger Sept 26, 2012 – June 13, 2013 Maciej Skorża July 1, 2013 – Oct 1, 2013 Theo Bücker Sept 30, 2013 – Oct 26, 2013 Eusebiu Tudor Oct 26, 2013 – Feb 13, 2014 Goran Tufegdžić Feb 13, 2014–July, 2014 Ioan Andone July 2014 – Feb 17, 2015 Beñat San José (2015) Gheorghe Mulțescu (2015–16) Reinhard Stumpf (2016) Djamel Belkacem 2015–16 Saudi First Division (2016) Eelco Schattorie References ↑ Asian Club Championship 1989 – Schedule & Results. Retrieved 21 November 2011. ↑ AFC Champions League 2009 – Schedule & Results, Retrieved 21 November 2011. ↑ AFC Champions League 2012 – Draw, Retrieved 9 December 2011. ↑ http://ettifaq.com/first_team/ External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al-Ettifaq. Official Website Official News Website Preceded by Al-Arabi GCC Champions League Runner up: Al-Arabi 1983 Succeeded by Al-Ahli Preceded by Kazma GCC Champions League Runner up: Kazma 1988 Succeeded by Fanja SC Preceded by Qadsia SC GCC Champions League Runner up: Qadsia SC 2006 Succeeded by Al Jazira