Jamal Al Haj ( ar, جمال الحاج; born 28 August 1971) is a Lebanese

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 ...

manager and former player who is the technical director of club Ahed's youth sector. Al Haj played for

Nejmeh Nejmeh Sporting Club ( ar, نادي النجمة الرياضي, lit=The Star Sporting Club) is a football club based in Manara, a district in Ras Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . The club was established in Beirut in 1945, and ...

as a

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 ...

, whom he captained, as well as for the Lebanon national team. He was the

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...

top scorer in his debut season, in 1989–90, scoring 12 goals. Al Haj also played for Ahed in 2004. In 2017 he managed Nejmeh, but was fired two months later. Al Haj took charge of the Lebanon national under-23 team between 2020 and 2021.

Club career

Al Haj made his debut for

under Samir Al Adou, during the 1989–90 Lebanese Premier League. In his debut season, Al Haj was the league's top scorer, with 12 goals, above

Fadi Alloush Fadi Alloush ( ar, فادي علوش; born 1 January 1969) is a Lebanese former footballer. Nicknamed "the Bulldozer" ( ar, البلدوزر, link=no), Alloush played as a striker for Ansar for most of his career. He is famous for holding the ...

and Yasser Mansour from Tadamon Beirut who had scored eight goals each. He remained at

for 14 years, captaining them for a certain period, before moving to Ahed in 2004.

International career

Al Haj represented the Lebanon national team.

Managerial career

Al Haj was manager of

Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الثانية) is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate ...

side Khoyol in 2013. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Al Haj was appointed head coach of Nejmeh; he was fired two months later. On 12 October 2020, Al Haj was announced head coach of the Lebanon national under-23 team. He resigned on 26 July 2021. On 3 August 2021, Al Haj was appointed technical director of Ahed's youth sector.

Personal life

Al Haj has two sons, Youssef (b. 1999) and

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

(b. 2001), who both play football.

Honours

Player

Nejmeh *

: 1999–00, 2001–02, 2003–04 *

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The first edition, held in 1937, was won by Nahda. The most successful club in the competition is Ansar with 15 titles, followed by Nejmeh ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98 *

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () is a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was contested by the top five finish ...

: 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 *

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

: 2000, 2002 Individual * Lebanese Premier League top goalscorer: 1989–90

References

External links

* * * 1971 births Living people Lebanese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Lebanese Premier League players Nejmeh SC players Al Ahed FC players Lebanon men's international footballers Lebanese Premier League top scorers Lebanese football managers Lebanese Premier League managers Al Khoyol FC managers Nejmeh SC managers Lebanese Second Division managers {{Lebanon-footy-bio-stub