Liban Abdi Ali ( so, Liibaan Cabdi; born 5 October 1988) is a Somali

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

left winger 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 ...

. He previously played for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

in England, for

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

in Hungary, for

Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

in Portugal, and for

FK Haugesund Fotballklubben Haugesund (English: ''Football Club Haugesund''), usually referred to as FK Haugesund or FKH, is a professional Norway, Norwegian association football, football club from the city of Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. The club currently ...

in his home country Norway. Born in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, Abdi grew up in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and holds Norwegian citizenship. He is eligible to play internationally for

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

, and

Early life

Abdi was born in

Burao Burao, also spelt Bur'o or Bur'ao (; so, Burco, , ar, برعو) is the capital of the Togdheer region and the second largest city in Somaliland. Burao was also the third largest city of Somalia. Burao was the site of the declaration of an in ...

, in 1988. He spent most of his childhood in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway, where he attended both primary and secondary school. He lived in

Stovner Stovner is a borough located to the far north east of the city of Oslo, Norway. Historically, Stovner was the name of a farm in the municipal borough "Østre Aker". Østre Aker merged with Oslo in 1948, both instigated and followed by a massive ex ...

, an eastern borough in Oslo.

Career

Club career

Abdi moved to England with his family at the age of 14, and after a year in England he joined

's youth academy. Abdi was the first Somali to be awarded a professional football contract at

after impressing with the club's Academy. Following spells with Newport Pagnell Town and Buckingham Town, he was picked up by United when he subsequently moved to Sheffield with the assistance of the ''Football Unites, Racism Divides'' program. Liban Abdi Rizespor

Having signed a two-year contract in the summer of 2008, Abdi was loaned out to the Blades' sister club,

, for the following season to gain first team experience. On his return, and after failing to break into the first team at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

, he was released by Sheffield United in July 2010. He then joined Ferencváros on a permanent basis, spending two seasons with the club, before moving to Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

in the 2012 close season.

International career

Abdi is eligible to play for both

, and

but has not represented any of them although he has stated that he wants to play for Norway. When Norway national team coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen announced his squad for the friendly match against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in August 2012, Drillo said that he had never seen Abdi in action despite the fact that he was playing in Portugal. Two months later Drillo stated that Abdi was not good enough for the Norwegian team, when announcing his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. In September 2018 he stated that he would not play for Somalia, but would try and help the country off the pitch.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile at LevskiSofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdi, Liban 1988 births Living people Footballers from Oslo Men's association football wingers Somalian men's footballers Norwegian men's footballers Newport Pagnell Town F.C. players Buckingham Town F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Ferencvárosi TC footballers S.C. Olhanense players Académica de Coimbra (football) players Çaykur Rizespor footballers PFC Levski Sofia players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Al-Ettifaq FC players Primeira Liga players Süper Lig players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Saudi Pro League players Somalian emigrants to Norway Somalian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Somalian expatriate sportspeople in England Somalian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Somalian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Somalian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Somalian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Naturalised citizens of Norway