Abdul Najim Haidary ( prs, عبدالنجم حیدری; born 26 December 1999) is an Afghan international
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
defender for Ariana in Sweden.
Club career
Having progressed through the academy of
Excelsior Rotterdam, Haidary joined
Tweede Divisie
Tweede Divisie ( en, Second Division) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and b ...
side
BVV Barendrecht
BVV Barendrecht is a football club from Barendrecht, Netherlands. The club was founded on 12 February 1926 and plays its matches at Sportpark de Bongerd. With more than 2000 members, Barendrecht is one of the largest amateur clubs of the Nether ...
in 2018, going on to make his debut for the club later the same year. After three appearances, he joined
Eerste Divisie side
FC Den Bosch
FC Den Bosch () is a football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadium is called 'De Vliert', an 8,500 all-seater. R ...
in 2019, but during his time with the club he suffered a serious knee injury which side-lined him for eight months, and he was unable to make his debut.
In February 2022, he returned to the Tweede Divisie with
ASWH. However, despite making fifteen appearances, he could not help prevent the club being relegated to the
Derde Divisie
The Derde Divisie (; en, Third Division), formerly known as Topklasse (; en, Top Class), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league ...
.
[ Ahead of the 2022–23 season, in August 2022, he moved to Cyprus, joining Cypriot Third Division side ENAD.
After only two appearances for ENAD, Haidary moved to Sweden, joining Ettan Fotboll side Ariana.
]
International career
Haidary was eligible to represent both Afghanistan and the Netherlands at international level, and during his time in the academy of Excelsior Rotterdam, his coach, Marinus Barendregt, was in contact with then-manager of the Afghanistan national football team
The Afghanistan national football team ( ''Tīm-e Millī-e Fūtbāl-e Afghānestān'') is the national football team of Afghanistan and is controlled by the Afghanistan Football Federation. Founded in 1922, they played their first international ...
, Anoush Dastgir
Anoush Dastgir (born 27 November 1989) is an Afghan football manager and retired player, who is the current head coach of both the Afghanistan national team and VV DUNO in Hoofdklasse.
Early life
Dastgir, born in Afghanistan, grew up in Paki ...
, informing Dastgir that Haidary was a player in the team with Afghan roots.friendly
Friendly may refer to:
Places
* Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England
* Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States
* ...
draw with Tajikistan, and by October of the same year, he had already featured in two 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Parallel tour ...
games.[
Following his call-up in November 2021, he stated that he was proud to represent Afghanistan, and that he played for the country, not for the Taliban, who had taken control of the nation earlier in the year, forcing the national team to play their home games in other countries.
]
Personal life
Though he was born in Amsterdam, Haidary's parents live in Afghanistan, and in August 2021, following the 2021 Taliban offensive
A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...
, he stated that the situation was "very scary" and that he feared for his family.
Career statistics
Club
;Notes
International
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haidary, Najim
1999 births
Living people
Footballers from Amsterdam
Citizens of Afghanistan through descent
Afghan men's footballers
Afghanistan men's international footballers
Dutch men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football fullbacks
Men's association football utility players
Tweede Divisie players
Excelsior Rotterdam players
BVV Barendrecht players
FC Den Bosch players
ASWH players
ENAD Polis Chrysochous FC players
Afghan expatriate men's footballers
Afghan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Afghan expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden