Hilal El-Helwe

Hilal Bassam El-Helwe (Arabic: هلال بسام الحلوي‎, Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: [ˈhleːl basˈseːm lˈħɪlwe, -wi]; born 24 November 1994) is a Lebanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for 3. Liga club SV Meppen and the Lebanon national team. A versatile forward, he can play both centrally and as a winger on either flank.[1]

Hilal El-Helwe
El-Helwe with Lebanon at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
Personal information
Full name Hilal Bassam El-Helwe
Date of birth (1994-11-24) 24 November 1994
Place of birth Hanover, Germany
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 SV Meppen
Number 29
Youth career
0000–2008 Hannover 96
2008–2010 TSV Havelse
2010–2012 SC Langenhagen
2012–2013 TSV Havelse
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 TSV Havelse 59 (16)
2015–2016 VfL Wolfsburg II 22 (7)
2016–2018 Hallescher FC 55 (4)
2018–2019 Apollon Smyrnis 21 (3)
2019– SV Meppen 21 (3)
National team‡
2015– Lebanon 26 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 June 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2019

After playing for five years in Germany for TSV Havelse, VfL Wolfsburg II and Hallescher FC, El-Helwe moved to Greece in 2018 to Apollon Smyrnis. In 2019 he moved back to Germany, signing for SV Meppen. For Lebanon, he scored a brace against North Korea in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, helping Lebanon achieve their first ever win in the competition and becoming their top scorer in the competition to date.

Club career

TSV Havelse

Coming through the youth system, El-Helwe debuted for the senior side of TSV Havelse on 31 August 2013 coming on as a substitute in a 2–3 domestic defeat to Eintracht Braunschweig II.[2] His first goal in the Regionalliga Nord would come on 27 October of the same year, scoring the equalizing goal against Wilhelmshaven on the 14th minute.[3] He ended his first season at the club with six goals in 26 league games.[4]

In his second season, El-Helwe scored his first domestic brace on 10 October 2014 against Schwarz-Weiß Rehden.[5] He improved on his previous tally scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances for the club, earning him a move to VfL Wolfsburg II the following season.[4]

VfL Wolfsburg II

On 5 September 2015, El-Helwe debuted for VfL Wolfsburg II against his former side TSV Havelse in a 6–1 domestic win, coming on as a substitute on the 65th minute.[6] On 1 November 2015, he scored his first goal for the side against Borussia Hildesheim in a 1–5 away win.[7]

El-Helwe played a total of 22 league games for the side, scoring seven and assisting seven in the process.[4][8] He helped Wolfsburg win the Regionalliga Nord,[9] and played two promotion play-off games against Jahn Regensburg, losing 2–1 on aggregate.[10][11]

Hallescher FC
El-Helwe for Hallescher FC in 2017.

On 22 June 2016, 3. Liga side Hallescher FC announced the acquisition of El-Helwe from VfL Wolfsburg II on a two-year contract.[12] On 6 August 2016, he played his first league match at home against Chemnitzer FC in a 1–1 draw, coming on as a substitute for Sascha Pfeffer on the 78th minute. El-Helwe's first goals for the club came in the form of a brace at the DFB Pokal game against Kiaserslautern on 20 August 2016, scoring two goals in four minutes in a 4–3 win.[13] In the following season, El-Helwe scored his first league goal for the club on 22 July 2017 in the first match of the season, scoring on the 73rd minute against Paderborn after coming off the bench in a 4–4 draw.[14]

El-Helwe scored a total of four league goals for Halle, all during the 2017–18 season.[4]

Apollon Smyrnis

With his contract expiring, El-Helwe decided to join Superleague Greece side Apollon Smyrnis on a free transfer for the 2018–19 season.[15] El-Helwe's first goal for the club, which came on 15 September 2018, was also Apollon Smyrnis' first of the season, scoring a late consolation goal against PAS Giannina.[16] On 23 February 2019, El-Helwe scored the equalizer against Super Cup holders AEK, with the match ending in a 1–2 away defeat.[17]

Despite finishing last in the league, El-Helwe was Apollon Smyrnis' top scorer in the 2018–19 season with three goals in 21 appearances.[18]

SV Meppen

On 3 July 2019, 3. Liga side SV Meppen announced the signing of El-Helwe on a free transfer, with his contract valid until 2021.[19] His first goal came on 3 November 2019, scoring against Bayern II in a 5–3 home win.[20] On 12 June 2020, El-Helwe scored against his former club Hallescher FC coming on as a substitute.[21] Despite him equalizing the score 1–1, the match ended in a 2–3 loss.[21]

International career
El-Helwe (left) for Lebanon during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup game against Saudi Arabia.

As his parents are both Lebanese, El-Helwe was eligible to represent Lebanon internationally. On 8 October 2015, El-Helwe made his debut for the Lebanese national team, starting in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier 2–0 win against Myanmar.[22] He was in the starting lineup and played until his replacement after 56 minutes from the start. However, he was unable to enter the scoresheet.[23]

El-Helwe scored his first international goal on 29 March 2016 in Lebanon's home match against Myanmar during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, securing a 1–1 draw for his team in the 88th minute of the game.[24]

In December 2018, he was called up for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup squad,[25] and played in all three group stage games.[26] On 17 January 2019, during the last game against North Korea, he scored a volley in the 65th minute thanks to a cross by Mohamad Haidar to put Lebanon in the lead. In the seventh minute of added time, he scored a second volley ending the encounter in a 4–1 win and giving Lebanon their first ever win in the Asian Cup.[27] With his brace against North Korea, El-Helwe became Lebanon's top scorer in the AFC Asian Cup to date.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 12 June 2020[28][29]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
TSV Havelse 2013–14 Regionalliga Nord 266— —266
2014–15 Regionalliga Nord 3310— —3310
Total 5916 00 0 05916
VfL Wolfsburg II 2015–16 Regionalliga Nord 227— 2[lower-alpha 2] 0247
Hallescher FC 2016–17 3. Liga 25012 —262
2017–18 3. Liga 304— —304
Total 554 12 0 0566
Apollon Smyrnis 2018–19 Super League Greece 21341 —254
SV Meppen 2019–20 3. Liga 213— —213
Career total 17833 5 3 2 0 185 36
  1. Includes the DFB-Pokal and Greek Cup
  2. Appearance(s) in Regionalliga promotion play-offs

International
As of match played 19 November 2019[26]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team YearAppsGoals
Lebanon 201520
201671
201751
201831
201995
Total268
Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each El-Helwe goal.[26]
List of international goals scored by Hilal El-Helwe
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 29 March 2016Saida International Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon Myanmar1–11–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 10 October 2017Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon North Korea1–05–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3 27 March 2018Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Malaysia2–12–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4 17 January 2019Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates North Korea2–14–12019 AFC Asian Cup
5 4–1
6 10 October 2019Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon Turkmenistan1–02–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 15 October 2019Colombo Racecourse, Colombo, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka2–03–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 3–0

Honours and achievements

Club

VfL Wolfsburg II

References
  1. "AFC Asian Cup - Qatar v Lebanon: How to watch Online, Live Match Stream, Team News, Kick-off time ,AFC Asian Cup 2019 UAE, Watch Qatar Online". beIN SPORTS. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  2. "Havelse vs. Eintracht Braunschw. II - 31 August 2013 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  3. "Wilhelmshaven vs. Havelse - 27 October 2013 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  4. "Lebanon - Hilal El-Helwe - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  5. "Havelse vs. Schwarz-Weiß Rehden - 10 October 2014 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  6. "Wolfsburg II vs. Havelse - 5 September 2015 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  7. "Borussia Hildesheim vs. Wolfsburg II - 1 November 2015 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  8. "The final 23: who are they?". Lebanese Football Review. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  9. "34. Spieltag | Regionalliga Nord 2015/16". kicker.de. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  10. "Aufstiegs-Playoffs". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). 19 March 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  11. "Aufstiegs-Playoffs". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. (in German). 19 March 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  12. "Neuverpflichtung: HFC holt Hilal El-Helwe aus Wolfsburg". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (in German). 22 June 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  13. "Hallescher FC vs. Kaiserslautern - 20 August 2016 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  14. "Hallescher FC vs. Paderborn - 22 July 2017 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  15. "Nach HFC-Abgang: El-Helwe wechselt nach Griechenland" (in German). Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  16. Soliman, Seif (16 September 2018). "Pharaohs Abroad Roundup: Shikabala makes Apollon Smyrni debut". KingFut. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  17. "AEK Athens vs. Apollon Smirnis - 23 February 2019 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  18. "Team Statistics: APOLLON SMYRNI". www.superleaguegreece.net. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  19. "Verstärkung für die Offensive: Meppen holt El-Helwe" (in German). Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  20. "Spielbericht SV Meppen - FC Bayern Amateure". FC Bayern München (in German). 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  21. NDR. "3. Liga: Meppen verliert gegen Halle". www.ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  22. "Cedars prolong WC dream after Myanmar win | Sports , Football | THE DAILY STAR". www.dailystar.com.lb. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  23. Nolte, Sören (12 October 2015). "Ex-Havelser Hilal El-Helwe ist jetzt Nationalspieler" (in German). Sportbuzzer.de. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  24. "Lebanon vs. Myanmar - Football Match Summary - March 29, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  25. "AC2019 Final Squads". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  26. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Hilal El-Helwe". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  27. "Group E: Lebanon 4-1 DPR Korea". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  28. "Hilal El-Helwe - Player profile". DFB data center. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  29. "Στοιχεία Παίκτη | ΠΑΕ ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ". www.fcapollon.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
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