Philippe Robert Paoli (; born 3 January 1995) 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 ...

. After playing one season with Racing Beirut, Paoli moved to Lyon B in 2013. He then moved to Germany the following year, where he played for 1. FC Köln II. In 2014 he moved to Belgium, playing for

Lommel Lommel () is a municipality and a city in the Belgian province of Limburg. The Kempen city has about 34,000 inhabitants and is part of the electoral district and the judicial district Lommel Neerpelt. Besides residential town of Lommel also has ...

, before moving to Oosterwijk on loan in 2016, where he ended his professional career aged 22. Paoli also represented the Lebanese national team.

Club career

Paoli is a graduate of the

Dbayeh Dbayeh ( ar, ضبية) is a city in Lebanon located on the Mediterranean Sea in the Matn District, Mount Lebanon, between Beirut and Jounieh. The majority of the population is Christian, apart from some Gulf Arab Muslims who live there during th ...

-based Athletico SC academy. He also practiced

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, a discipline that saw him win several national titles in the youth categories. Having played for Racing Beirut in 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, ...

, Paoli joined the Olympique Lyon B team in summer 2013 on a two-year deal. He played for Köln II in 2014. In summer 2015, Paoli moved to

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

side

Lommel United Lommel SK is a Belgian association football club based in the city of Lommel, Limburg, that competes in the Challenger Pro League. History The roots of the club date back to the 1920s when the club Vlug & Vrij Overpelt-Usines (Fast & Free ...

. He was sidelined for most of the season due to a fibula fracture. In 2016, Paoli joined Oosterwijk on a one-year loan. In 2017, Paoli was nominated among the 17 candidates for the Belgian Lion, an award given to the best player of Arab origin in the

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

International career

Aged 17, Paoli was called by coach

Theo Bücker Johannes Theodor "Theo" Bücker (born 10 July 1948) is a German football manager and a former player, who is the current coach of the under-15 team of Lebanese club Athletico SC (Lebanon), Athletico SC. Coaching career Return to Lebanon On ...

for the Lebanon national team for a

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 ...

against the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 6 September 2012, in which he came on as a substitute in the 59th minute. He was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Lebanon national under-19 team during the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers that took place in Oman in 2015.

Style of play

Initially a winger in his youth, Paoli developed into a striker once he moved to Europe.

Personal life

Paoli has dual Lebanese–

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

nationality. Paoli's sister,

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ref ...

, participated in the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as a

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

practitioner; his father, Robert, was a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. In 2017, after retiring from professional football aged 22, Paoli studied at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

to pursue a degree in business and management.

Honours

Individual *

Lebanese Premier League Best Young Player The Al-Manar Football Festival () was an event organised by the Al-Manar television station between the 1996–97 and 2018–19 seasons in order to award players, managers, referees and teams who were considered to have performed the best over ...

2012–13 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 ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paoli, Philippe 1995 births Living people Footballers from Beirut Lebanese people of Greek descent Lebanese footballers Association football forwards Al Egtmaaey SC players Racing Club Beirut players 1. FC Köln II players Lommel S.K. players Lierse Kempenzonen players Lebanese Premier League players Regionalliga players Belgian First Division B players Belgian Third Division players Lebanon youth international footballers Lebanon international footballers Lebanese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Belgium Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in France Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium