Hassan Maatouk

Hassan Maatouk
Personal information
Full name Hassan Ali Maatouk
Date of birth (1987-10-08) 8 October 1987
Place of birth Beirut, Lebanon
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 Nejmeh
Number 10
Youth career
0000–2004 Club Sagesse
2004–2005 Ahed
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2012 Ahed ? (48)
2011–2012 → Ajman (loan) 21 (6)
2012–2013 Al-Shaab 25 (4)
2013–2017 Fujairah 91 (46)
2017– Nejmeh 21 (13)
National team‡
Lebanon U20 15 (7)
2006– Lebanon 70 (19)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 April 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2018

Hassan Ali Maatouk (Arabic: حسن علي معتوق‎ Arabic pronunciation: [ħasan ʕaliː maʕtuːk]; born 8 October 1987) is a Lebanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Lebanese club Nejmeh and the Lebanese national team.[1]

Club career

Ahed

Maatouk's senior career started with Ahed in the Lebanese Premier League in 2005 aged 17, making his first-team debut as a centre-forward before moving to the wings.[2] He scored three goals in the AFC Cup in 2005,[3] after being eliminated with his side in the quarterfinals against Sun Hei of Hong Kong.[4] In 2008 Maatouk was the top scorer of the Lebanese Elite Cup with three goals, on par with his teammate Salih Sadir.[5] On 30 January 2010, he scored a brace in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup against Nejmeh despite his side being a man down and thus secured entry into the semifinals, which was lost to Ansar 1–3.[6]

With Ahed he won the Lebanese Premier League, the Lebanese FA Cup and the Lebanese Elite Cup three times, the Lebanese Super Cup twice and the Lebanese Federation Cup once. He also won the Golden Boot in the Lebanese Premier League for being the top goal scorer in the league with 15 goals in the 2010–11 season,[7] his final season with Ahed. Hassan Maatouk scored a total of 48 league goals in six years with the Lebanese side.[1]

UAE

Ajman & Al-Shaab

Maatouk's first two years in the Emirates were met with moderate success, scoring a total of 10 goals: 6 with Ajman,[1] on loan from Ahed,[8] during the 2011–12 season (2 of which coming from his first match)[2] and 4 with Al-Shaab the following year.[1]

His performances attracted attention from various teams, such as Borussia Dortmund in Germany and Ligue 1 sides Olympique Marseille, AC Ajaccio and OGC Nice.[2][9][10]

Al Fujairah

In 2013 Maatouk moved on a free transfer to Al Fujairah,[11] where he stayed despite being relegated to the second division during the 2016–17 season. He scored a total of 46 goals in 91 appearances.[1]

Hassan Maatouk was released by Al Fujairah on 11 July 2017.[12] The Lebanese star's desire to terminate his contract came after his team failed to get promoted to the UAE Arabian Gulf League and thus staying in UAE Division One, despite there being a year left in his contract. Maatouk said that the newly appointed Argentine world cup winner Diego Maradona's coaching role was not tempting and that he would rather depart from the division one side.

Nejmeh

2017–2018

Maatouk decided to return to Lebanon in 2017, signing for Nejmeh.[13] Upon his return to the Lebanese Premier League he scored 13 goals and made 14 assists in 21 league appearances, making him the second top scorer and the player with the most assists in the 2017–18 season.[14]

2018–2019

At the 2018–19 Arab Club Champions Cup play-off rounds Maatouk scored twice in three matches, one of which being a penalty in the last match of the play-offs against Tunisian team Club Africain which secured all 9 points for his team, thus qualifying to the round of 36 against Al Ahly of Egypt.[15]

International career

Maatouk started his international career in 2006 with a friendly match against Saudi Arabia, won by Lebanon 1–2. His first goal however came in 2011 during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification against Bangladesh, scoring the opener in a match that finished 4–0. During these qualifiers Maatouk showed great tactics and skills and became key in helping Lebanon return after a footballing era of crisis.[1]

On 8 September 2014, he scored a goal against the Brazil Olympic team in a 2–2 draw; the match however was not registered as official by FIFA.[16]

In 2016 Maatouk became the captain of the national team following Roda Antar's retirement from international football.[17]

Maatouk was fundamental for his team during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifications by scoring 5 goals in 6 matches in the Third Round, thus qualifying Lebanon to their second ever AFC Asian Cup.[1][18]

International goals

Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first.[1]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
123 July 2011Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Bangladesh1–04–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
217 August 2011Saida International Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon Syria1–02–3Friendly
310 October 2011Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Kuwait1–02–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
42–1
529 February 2012Al-Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates2–22–42014 FIFA World Cup qualification
622 March 2013Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Thailand4–15–22015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
74 June 2013 South Korea1–01–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
86 September 2013 Syria1–02–0Friendly
95 March 2014Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand Thailand2–05–22015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
104–1
118 October 2015Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand Myanmar1–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
1212 November 2015Saida International Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon Laos5–07–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
135 September 2016Rashid Karami Stadium, Tripoli, Lebanon Afghanistan2–02–0Friendly
1411 October 2016Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Equatorial Guinea1–11–1Friendly
1528 March 2017 Hong Kong2–02–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
165 September 2017Kim Il-sung Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea North Korea2–22–22019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1710 October 2017Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon2–05–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1814 November 2017Hong Kong Stadium, Wanchai, Hong Kong Hong Kong1–01–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1927 March 2018Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Malaysia1–02–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Style of play

Capable of playing in different positions in attack, not only is Maatouk a goal poacher but he is also able to make the most of his natural abilities, mainly his pace and dribbling. He is known for his great vision and ability on the ball in order to create scoring chances for his teammates; also the fact that he can equally use both feet make him a very versatile player.[2]

Theo Bucker, the ex Lebanon national team coach, once described Maatouk as a player who "comes around every 10 years" and "is almost impossible to substitute".[2]

Honours

Club

Ahed[19]

Nejmeh[19]

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Hassan Maatouk". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lebanon forward finds international exposure in an unlikely place". The National. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "AFC Stats: Hassan Maatouk". AFCS.
  4. ↑ "Al Ahed vs Sun Hei H2H Stats - SoccerPunter.com". www.soccerpunter.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  5. 1 2 "2008 Lebanese Elite Cup". Wikipedia. 17 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Match history between: Nejmeh & Al Ahed". www.goalzz.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Lebanese League". www.goalzz.com. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  8. ↑ "Hassan Maatouk joins Ajman". Gulf News. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "SPORTMAG". 22 June 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Le Liban, nouveau terrain de chasse des clubs de foot français ?". L'Orient-Le Jour. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "حسن معتوق مهاجم العهد اللبناني ينهي إجراءات تعاقده مع الفجيرة الإماراتي". كووورة (in Arabic). Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "Fujairah ready for the arrival of Diego Maradona as pre-season begins ahead of promotion push". The National. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "Hasan Maatouk joins Nejmeh". Al Bawaba. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  14. 1 2 "Hassan Maatouk Stats". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  15. ↑ LiveScore, SofaScore.com. "Club Africain Nejmeh SC live score, video stream and H2H results - SofaScore". www.sofascore.com. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "Football: Draw between Lebanon and Brazil Olympic team | Sports 961 Sports 961". sports-961.com. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "'Focus on the future' Maatouk tells team | Arab News". arabnews.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "'Lebanon qualifies for 2019 Asian Cup | The Daily Star". dailystar.com.lb. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  19. 1 2 "Lebanon - Hassan Maatouk - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  20. 1 2 3 "Fahed Yaghi, Fifa Football Players Agent Diploma in Business Administration". fahedyaghi.blogspot.it. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
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