Mohamad Mahmoud Ghaddar ( ar, محمد محمود غدار; born 1 January 1984) is a Lebanese former professional

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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Coming through the youth system, Ghaddar began his senior career at Nejmeh in 2000. He stayed nine years at the club, winning multiple domestic and individual titles. In 2009, Ghaddar moved abroad, joining Al-Shabab in Bahrain, then Egyptian side

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

in 2010, helping them win the league title. Following stints in Syria at Tishreen in 2010 and

Al-Jaish Al Jaish is Arabic for army, and may refer to: * Tala'ea El Gaish SC, a football club based in Cairo, Egypt * Al-Jaish FC (Iraq), a football club based in Baghdad, Iraq * Al-Jaish SC (Syria), a football club based in Damascus, Syria * El Jaish SC, ...

in 2011, Ghaddar moved to Malaysia at

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...

and FELDA United. He then returned to the Middle East, where he played for Al-Faisaly and Naft Al-Wasat between 2014 and 2017. Ghaddar returned to Kelantan, before moving to

Johor Darul Ta'zim Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club or simply JDT is a professional football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. The club was founded in 1972 as PKENJ FC and currently competes in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia Super ...

, winning the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

as the top scorer. Following a second return to Kelantan and a stint at Johor Darul Ta'zim II, he returned to Nejmeh in Lebanon in 2020, where he retired two years later. Ghaddar made his senior international debut for

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in 2006. He represented his country in the

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 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Ghaddar also took part in other competitions, namely the

2007 WAFF Championship The 2007 West Asian Football Federation Championship was held in Jordan's capital Amman. Iran won the final against Iraq 2–1. The 6 entrants were Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and host nation Jordan. The finals took place between 16 an ...

2009 King's Cup The 39th King's Cup finals was held from 21 to 23 January 2009 at the Surakul Stadium in Phuket, Thailand. The King's Cup (คิงส์คัพ) is an annual football tournament; the first tournament was played in 1968. This edition of the t ...

and

2009 Nehru Cup The 2009 Nehru Cup International Football Tournament also known as the ONGC Nehru Cup due to the competition's sponsorship by ONGC, was the 14th edition of the Nehru Cup a friendly tournament organized by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). ...

. With 19 goals in 46 appearances, Ghaddar is Lebanon's third-highest goalscorer.

Club career

Nejmeh

Ghaddar started his youth career at Nejmeh on 26 February 1998. After graduating from the youth academy he made his first-team debut two years later, and was a member of the squad that claimed the 1999–00 season title, which was the club's first Lebanese Premier League title for over 20 years. Over the course of the decade, Ghaddar went on to claim another four league titles and pick up successive league top-scorer awards, while cementing his reputation as one of Lebanon's finest strikers.

Al Shabab

In December 2009, Ghaddar signed for Bahraini Premier League side Al-Shabab for the 2009–10 season. On 18 March 2010, Ghaddar scored his first goal for Al-Shabab in a 3–1 win over Muharraq. Two weeks later, he scored a

brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal cur ...

against

Busaiteen Busaiteen ( ar, البسيتين) is a small town in northern Bahrain. It is located on Muharraq Island, just north of Muharraq City. Etymology The town's name, "''Busaiteen''," pertains to the large number of orchards found in it. Education Bus ...

in a 3–1 away win on 2 April. On 15 May, Ghaddar scored his second league brace in a 2–1 win against Malkiya. His five goals in six games at the end of the season helped the club avoid relegation to the second division.

Al Ahly

Ghaddar signed a four-year-contract with Egypt's

for the 2010–11 Egyptian Premier League season, become the first Lebanese player to sign for the Egyptian team. Ghaddar debuted for Al Ahly on 6 August 2010, in a 0–0 draw with

Ittihad El-Shorta Ittihad El Shorta ( ar, نادي إتحاد الشرطة), also known as Police Union, or simply El Shorta, is an Egyptian football club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club plays in the Egyptian Third Division, the third-highest league in the Egypti ...

where he was substituted onto the field for

Mohamed Talaat Mohamed Talaat Abdelrahman Abdou ( ar, محمد طلعت عبد الرحمن عبده) (born May 14, 1989) is an Egyptian Association football, footballer. He plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Egyptian club ZED FC, ZED. Car ...

after 76 minutes. He made an appearance during the

2010 CAF Champions League group stage The 2010 CAF Champions League group stage matches took place between 16 July and 19 September 2010. The draw for the two groups took place on 13 May 2010, at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo. The group stage featured 8 qualifiers from the 2010 CAF Ch ...

on 12 September 2010, in a 2–1 win against Nigerian side

Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization i ...

where he was substituted onto the field for

Mohamed Fadl Mohamed Fadl ( ar, محمد فضل) is a retired Egyptian football player. Fadl played for the Egypt national football team in the 2008 African Cup of Nations. Fadl also played for the Egypt national under-17 football team The Egypt natio ...

in the 76th minute. Ghaddar was released by the club after just six months of his handful of appearances.

Syria

Ghaddar joined the Syrian club Tishreen for the 2010–11 season, but eventually joined

the same year.

Kelantan

Ghaddar joined

2011 Malaysia Super League The 2011 Liga Super Malaysia ( en, 2011 Malaysia Super League) is the eighth season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay2011.html 2011 Liga Super The season was h ...

champions

Kelantan FA Kelantan Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bola Sepak Kelantan) is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The club plays in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football since 2023. Founded in 1946, the ...

on 8 November 2011, signing a two-year contract with the club. After his national team-duty, he officially joined Kelantan on 29 December 2011, scoring a 90th-minute

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

on his first appearance in a 3–1 win against

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

during a pre-season

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

.FRIENDLY : KELANTAN TEWASKAN PERAK
Retrieved from KelantanFA.com at 2 December 2011 He started the season scoring three goals; however, he was deregistered from Kelantan's Super League squad in February, and replaced by

Onyekachi Nwoha Onyekachi Paul Nwoha (born 28 February 1983 in Aba) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Onyekachi Nwoha began his career with FC Spiders, before he transferred to Enyimba International in 2001. He played for the Aba ...

. After his impressive performance in the

2012 AFC Cup The 2012 AFC Cup was the ninth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia. Al-Kuwait from Kuwait won their second AFC Cup title in four year ...

, scoring six times in four appearances, he was re-registered to the league squad in April, at the expense of Nwoha. He scored on his return to the Super League against PBDKT T-Team, through a penalty in a 2–1 win on 17 April 2012. Ghaddar helped Kelantan win the

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

for the first time, beating Sime Darby 1–0 in 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 ...

on 19 May 2012. He scored the only goal in the final, converting a penalty in the 58th minute.

FELDA United

After Ghaddar had refused to extend his contract with Kelantan, he signed a one-year contract with FELDA United. He scored a goal on his debut, which helped his club draw 1–1 against

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith"). ...

in the opening match. In March 2013, Ghaddar experienced a back injury and was unable to play for his team; FELDA decided to replace him and signed a new foreigner player during the April transfer window.

Return to Kelantan

2014 season

Ghaddar made a return to Malaysia Super League after signing a two-year contract with his former club, Kelantan. He scored a brace in his return against

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

in the opening day of the 2014 season, which Kelantan won 2–1. On 23 April, his contract was terminated by Kelantan.

2017 season

Ghaddar re-signed for the third time with Kelantan after he was unveiled as one of their new import players on 15 January 2017. He scored two goals during his 2017 season debut against PKNS. Ghaddar scored 18 goals in 11 matches for Kelantan.

Johor Darul Ta'zim

After much speculation about his future, on 16 May 2017

announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Ghaddar for an undisclosed fee. It was reported that Ghaddar had cost around RM 1,000,000 to RM 5,000,000 and he was reported to be paid from RM 170,000 to RM 200,000 monthly which will make him the highest wage receiver in Malaysia football history. Ghaddar made his debut for Johor Darul Ta'zim in a 1–0 win over PKNS, and provided the assist for the winning goal of the match on 24 May 2017. Ghaddar scored his first goal for Johor Darul Ta'zim in a 2–0 home win over

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

on 1 July 2017. On 15 July 2017, Ghaddar scored two goals in five games as his club defeated

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

3–1. He then scored another two goals on 22 July 2017 against T-Team and, on 26 July 2017, against Perak. Ghaddar concluded his season with five goals in 10 league appearances for Johor Darul Ta'zim. In November 2017,

Melaka United Melaka United Football Club () was a defunct Malaysian professional football club based in Malacca that competes in the Malaysia Super League. They were owned by Kenteam Sdn Bhd which is one of nitrile glove producer in Malaysia. Previously, th ...

showed their interest in signing Ghaddar on a season-long move. On 22 November 2017, Ghaddar rejected Melaka United's offer. He was released from the club after the 2017 season.

Fourth return to Kelantan

On 12 February 2018, Ghaddar returned to Kelantan for a fourth time, before the transfer window closed on 11 February, replacing Morgaro Gomis who was reportedly injured. Ghaddar made his debut in 3–2 win over Perak on 24 February 2018, at

Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium The Sultan Muhammed IV Stadium ( ms, Stadium Sultan Muhammed IV) is a stadium in the state of Kelantan. It is located on Jalan Mahmood, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, and the home of Kelantan FC and Kelantan United, a Malaysia football team. T ...

. After suffering from ACL injuries and a loss of form, his contract was terminated by mutual consent on May.

Johor Darul Ta'zim II

Ghaddar made his debut for

Malaysian Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier Leagu ...

side Johor Darul Ta'zim II, the reserve team of Johor Darul Ta'zim, in 2–1 win over

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

on 2 February 2019, scoring a header to equalise the game. Ghaddar scored seven goals in 15 league games.

Return to Nejmeh

On 7 September 2020, Ghaddar returned to Nejmeh in Lebanon. He retired in June 2022, at the end of the 2021–22 season, aged 38.

International career

Youth

Iran v Lebanon, 6 February 2013 06 (Najjarine and Ghaddar)

Ghaddar played for the Lebanon national under-20 football team alongside national teammates

Ali El Atat Ali Fouad El Atat ( ar, علي فؤاد الاتات; born 9 October 1984) is a Lebanese footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Sporting. In 2003 El Atat began his senior career at Mabarra, winning the Lebanese FA Cup in 20 ...

and

Ramez Dayoub Ramez Jamal Dayoub ( ar, رامز جمال ديوب; born 9 August 1984) is a Lebanese former professional footballer who played as a defender. A former Lebanon national team player, Dayoub played in Lebanon, Myanmar, Bahrain, and Malaysia, be ...

. During the qualification for the 2004 Summer Olympics, Ghaddar was part of the Lebanese under-23 team that made it to the final round of the Asian qualifiers.

Senior

On 8 September 2014, Ghaddar scored a goal against the Brazil Olympic team in a 2–2 draw. On 12 June 2017, Ghaddar refused a call-up to the national team for a match against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, where he was playing his club football. He did not appear for the national team since.

Controversies

League match controversy

On 12 June 2012,

Mohd Amri Yahyah Mohd. Amri bin Yahyah , nicknamed "Wak Am" is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays for Manchester City. He has also represented the Malaysian national team. Amri plays mainly as a forward but can also play as an attacking midfielder ...

and Mohd Bunyamin Omar physically attacked Ghaddar in a Malaysian Super League match. During the game, Ghaddar was left in pain after Amri Yahyah unsportingly punched his private parts. Ghaddar took a few minutes to recover as he laid on the ground. Following the incident, Selangor's Amri Yahyah and Bunyamin Omar were handed three-match suspensions and fined RM 1,500 each, while Ghaddar was handed a one-match suspension and fined RM 2,000 by the Disciplinary Committee of the

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM, ms, Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia responsible for organising the Malaysia national football team within the country. The Football Association of ...

Kelantan FA controversy

Ghaddar was brought to the disciplinary committee of Kelantan FA after he failed to report to the team on 5 August 2012, for their

2012 Malaysia Cup The 2012 Malaysia Cup (Malay: ''Piala Malaysia 2012'') was the 86th edition of Malaysia Cup. The competition began on 24 August 2012 and ended on 20 October 2012 with the final, held at Shah Alam Stadium. A total of 16 teams took part in the compe ...

campaign that would begin on 22 August. He arrived on 16 August, after he had returned to Lebanon to get married after the

2012 Malaysia Super League The 2012 Liga Super ( en, 2012 Super League) also known as the Astro Liga Super for sponsorship reasons is the ninth season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay2012.html 2012 ...

season ended on 14 July 2012.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ghaddar goal.''

Honours

The Lebanon national team's technical unit honoured Ghaddar for being the top scorer of the

2007 AFC Cup 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, ...

. National team coach

Emile Rustom Emile Boulos Rustom ( ar, إميل بولس رستم; born 27 March 1952) is a Lebanese football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Sagesse. After playing with Sagesse for 22 years, and the Lebanon national team for nine ...

presented Ghaddar the golden boot during a ceremony at the Meridien Commodore hotel in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. On 28 March 2021, the AFC nominated Ghaddar among the best all-time strikers of the

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

. Nejmeh * Lebanese Premier League: 2003–04, 2004–05 * Lebanese FA Cup: 2021–22 * Lebanese Elite Cup: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 * Lebanese Super Cup: 2002, 2004 Al Ahly *

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League ( ar, الدوري المصري الممتاز), also known as WE Egyptian Premier League (WE EPL) after the addition of title sponsor WE, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the top level of th ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Kelantan * Malaysia Super League:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Johor Darul Ta'zim * Malaysia Super League:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Malaysia Cup:

Johor Darul Ta'zim II *

Malaysia Challenge Cup The Malaysia Challenge Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Cabaran Malaysia'') is a Malaysian football competition held under the auspices of the Malaysian Football League and the Football Association of Malaysia. The tournament was created for Malaysia Super ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual * Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season: 2006–07, 2007–08 *

top scorer:

* Lebanese Premier League top scorer: 2006–07, 2007–08 * Malaysia Super League top scorer: 2017

References

External links

*
Mohamad Ghaddar
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghaddar, Mohamad 1984 births Living people Footballers from Beirut Lebanese footballers Association football forwards Nejmeh SC players Al-Shabab Club (Manama) players Al Ahly SC players Tishreen SC players Al-Jaish Damascus players Kelantan FA players Felda United F.C. players Al-Faisaly SC players Naft Al-Wasat SC players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players Johor Darul Ta'zim II F.C. players Lebanese Premier League players Bahraini Premier League players Egyptian Premier League players Syrian Premier League players Malaysia Super League players Jordanian Pro League players Iraqi Premier League players Malaysia Premier League players Lebanese expatriate footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Syria Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Jordan Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Iraq Expatriate footballers in Bahrain Expatriate footballers in Egypt Expatriate footballers in Syria Expatriate footballers in Malaysia Expatriate footballers in Jordan Expatriate footballers in Iraq Lebanon youth international footballers Lebanon international footballers Lebanese Premier League top scorers