Murad Naji Hussein (born 12 June 1991) is a

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

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 currently plays for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

side

Al-Wakrah Al Wakrah ( ar, الوكرة, al-Wakra) is the capital city of the Al Wakrah Municipality in Qatar. Al Wakrah's eastern edge is the shores of the Persian Gulf and Qatar's capital Doha is situated to the city's immediate north. Governed by Sheikh ...

. He is a graduate of Qatar's

Aspire Academy Aspire Academy ( ar, أكاديمية أسباير, Akādīmiyat 'Asbāyr) is a sports academy based in the Aspire Zone in Qatar, founded in 2004 with the goal to scout and help develop Qatari athletes, whilst also providing them with secondary ...

. He has also appeared for the Qatar national team and the U23 team.

Career

Club career

Murad Naji initially expressed his desire in professional football in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and has received offers from

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

and

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currently ...

. While negotiating his contract renewal with Al Rayyan in May 2012, he asked management for a large increase in salary, claiming that he has offers in Europe. Al Rayyan refused, and he joined

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club ( ar, نادي قطر الرياضي) is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 as a merger of two Qatari football club ...

on a 2-year deal instead.

International career

Born in Algeria, Naji is of

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian descent and moved to Qatar at a young age. He Naji received his first call-up to the Qatar Olympic football team in August 2008 by then coach Hassan Harmutallah. He has played for the Qatar Olympic team in the GGC U23 tournament held in Qatar on August 2011.

Personal

Murad Naji graduated from

Qatar University Qatar University ( ar, جامعة قطر; transliterated: Jami'at Qatar) is a public research university located on the northern outskirts of Doha, Qatar. It is the only public university in the country. The university hosts ten colleges – Arts ...

with a degree in

Sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

Honours

;Al-Rayyan *

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup ( ar, كأس أمير قطر), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by 18 first and second division teams. The most successful is Al Sad ...

: 2010, 2011

Notes

External links

goal.com Murad Naji

hailoosport.com Murad Naji
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naji, Murad 1991 births Living people Qatari men's footballers Qatar Stars League players Al-Rayyan SC players Qatar SC players Umm Salal SC players El Jaish SC players Al-Duhail SC players Al-Wakrah SC players Qatar University alumni Aspire Academy (Qatar) players Naturalised citizens of Qatar Qatari people of Algerian descent Qatari people of Jordanian descent Men's association football fullbacks