Abdel Kader Rifai ( ar, عبد القادر الرفاعي) is a retired professional

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who last played for Al-Karamah in the

Syrian Premier League The Syrian Premier League ( ar, الدوري السوري الممتاز) is a professional association football league in Syria and the top division in of the Syrian football league system. The league comprises 12 teams and operates on a system ...

Career

Rifai's career began in the youth system of Al-Karamah before starting his professional career with the senior team. He has won many trophies in his career including four

titles, three

Syrian Cup The Syrian Cup ( ar, سوريا) is Syria's premier knockout Cup tournament in men's football. It was first contested in 1959. Al-Ittihad SC has won the competition on 10 occasions. The final was first played in the 1960-61 season during the UAR ...

s, two

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

and helped the club reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

for the first time. Rifai began his rise in the international scene at youth level and represented Syria at the 1994 AFC U-19 Championship that Syria won, he also represented Syria at the 1995 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In addition, he competed with the senior team in the

1996 AFC Asian Cup The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 Decembe ...

and played again for Syria in the

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. After retirement as a player, Rifai went to coaching in which he managed his native club Al-Karamah.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rifai, Abdel Kader 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Homs Syrian footballers Association football midfielders Syria international footballers Al-Karamah players Al-Jaish Damascus players Al Ahed FC players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players Syrian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Lebanon Syrian expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Bourj FC players Lebanese Premier League players Syrian Premier League players