Ahmad Sharbini ( ar, أحمد الشربيني; born 21 February 1984) is a Croatian

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 ...

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of NK Rječina and former professional player who played as a striker.

Club career

Ahmad Sharbini began his professional career with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...

in the Croatian

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

in January 2003, when he signed his first professional contract. In the first four seasons with the club, he scored 39 league goals and 9 cup goals. With 21 goals to his account, he was the club's leading goalscorer in the 2006–07 season. He was also the league's second top goalscorer behind

Eduardo da Silva Eduardo Alves da Silva (, ; born 25 February 1983), commonly known as Eduardo and sometimes nicknamed Dudu, is a former professional footballer. Capable of playing any forward position, he started as a striker, but was deployed mostly as a w ...

. In late 2007 and early 2008, he had stints with

Al-Wahda FC (Abu Dhabi) Al Wahda Football Club ( ar, نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League. The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al Nahyan Stadi ...

and

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league syste ...

. In mid-2008, Sharbini returned to Rijeka, and in the 2008–09 season, with 17 goals in all competitions, he was the club's joint top goalscorer with his brother

Anas Sharbini Anas Sharbini ( ar, أنس الشربيني; born 21 February 1987) is a retired Croatian professional footballer. He played as an attacking midfielder or winger, and was best known for his dribbling and crossing skills. Club career Rijeka Born ...

. After the first league match in the new season, on 13 August 2009, he signed for

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

with his brother Anas. During his three years with Hajduk, Ahmad scored only 5 goals and most of the time struggled to make the starting line-up. Following his departure from Hajduk, he had three short stints in late 2012 and 2013, with

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 ( en, Istra 1961 Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra 1961, or simply Istra 1961 or Istra, is a Croatian professional football club from Pula, currently playing in the Croatian First League. It is a common ...

Al-Wehda Club (Mecca) Al-Wehda FC ( ar, نادي الوحدة, nādī al-waḥda, Union Club) is a multi-sports club from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, founded in 1916, making it the third oldest club in Saudi Arabia. The football section plays in the Saudi Professional League ...

and

NK Jedinstvo Bihać Nogometni klub Jedinstvo Bihać is a professional association football club based in the city of Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club's stadium is called Pod Borićima Stadion and it has capacity for 7,500 spectators. The fans of NK Jedinstv ...

, respectively. Following an 18-month break, since August 2015, Ahmad has been playing for NK Rječina in Croatia's fifth tier. Since mid-2014, he has also been serving as the club's chairman. In 2016 he joined NK Grobničan for one season period.

International career

Sharbini played in the

2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Championship 2001, the ninth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Port of Spain, Malabar in Arima, Marabella in San Fernando, Couva, and Bacolet in Scarborough at Trinidad and Tobago between 13 and 30 September ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He also played for

Croatia national under-21 football team The Croatia national under-21 football team represents Croatia in association football matches for players aged 21 or under. Competition UEFA U-21 Championship ;Notes *OFF = Lost in play-offs. UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2023 UEFA E ...

. He was capped last on 15 August 2006, against

Italy national under-21 football team The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. Italy (along with ...

Career statistics

Personal life

Sharbini is the older brother of fellow retired footballer

. He is of Albanian, Croatian and Palestinian descent. He was born in Rijeka to a local Albanian Croatian mother and

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

father, Jamal Al-Sharbini, who is from

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Achievements

Ahmad Sharbini is

's leading goalscorer in the

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

and the

Croatian Football Cup The Hrvatski nogometni kup ( eng, Croatian football cup), also colloquially known as Rabuzinovo sunce (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after th ...

with 54 and 14 goals to his account, respectively. Brothers Ahmad and Anas Sharbini are the only siblings to have scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

each in a single match in top-tier European football leagues. In the first round fixture of the

2009–10 Croatian First Football League The 2009–10 Croatian First Football League (officially known as the T-Com Prva HNL for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croat ...

season against

NK Lokomotiva Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional association football, football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First ...

, the brothers took turns. Ahmad opened the scoring after four minutes, Anas doubled the lead in the 27th minute and Ahmad made it 3–0 in the 35th minute. In the second half Anas converted a penalty in 51st minute, Ahmad completed his hat-trick in the 68th minute and two minutes later Anas scored his third goal.

Honours

;HNK Rijeka *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

;HNK Hajduk Split *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

;Grobničan * 4. HNL – Zapad: 2017–18 ;Records *Most goals for

in all official matches since 1974–75: 70 goals *Most goals for

: 54 goals *Most goals for

: 14 goals *Most goals for

Adriatic derby Adriatic derby ( hr, Jadranski derbi) is the name given to matches between two largest Croatian football clubs coming from the Adriatic coast, Hajduk Split and Rijeka. The teams are supported by their fanbases called Split's Torcida and Rijeka's ...

: 7 goals *Most goals for

in one season in

: 21 goals ''(shared with

Andrej Kramarić Andrej Kramarić (; born 19 June 1991) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club 1899 Hoffenheim and the Croatia national team. Kramarić started his football career in his hometow ...

)'' *Most goals for

scored against single opposition: 9 goals *Most braces for

: 10 ''(including hat-tricks)'' *Most

s for

: 4 *Second all-time league goalscorer for

: 54 goals

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharbini, Ahmad 1984 births Living people Footballers from Rijeka Croatian people of Palestinian descent Croatian people of Albanian descent Croatian Muslims Men's association football forwards Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers HNK Rijeka players Al Wahda FC players FC Luzern players HNK Hajduk Split players NK Istra 1961 players Al Wehda FC players NK Jedinstvo Bihać players NK Grobničan players Croatian Football League players UAE Pro League players Swiss Super League players Saudi Pro League players First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina