Rashid Mahazi is a

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

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 ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who last played as a

midfielder 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 ...

for

Incheon United FC Incheon United FC is a South Korean professional football club based in Incheon that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. Founded in 2003, the club is a so-called "community club", with the government of the cit ...

. A natural defensive minded player, Mahazi also played as a right back or as a defensive midfielder as he primarily did in the 2014–15 A-League season, under coach

Kevin Muscat Kevin Vincent Muscat (born 7 August 1973) is an Australian former association football player and the current manager of Yokohama F. Marinos. As a player, he represented the Australia national team at international level winning 46 caps and sco ...

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

's premiership and grand final victories.

Early life

Rashid Mahazi was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

on 20 April 1992 to an Australian mother and

Dinka The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotes, Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, South Sudan, Renk, in the region of Bahr el Gh ...

Kenyan father. Mahazi began his soccer playing for Monash City as a child, where his father was the coach. His father passed away during the 2016–17 A-League season, and this was considered be a factor when Mahazi decided at the season's conclusion to take a hiatus from the sport.

Youth career

Mahazi became a defensive minded

central midfielder 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 ...

but would also occasionally play as a right back. Mahazi started his junior development at Monash City FC, and progressed through the youth systems of

Box Hill United Box Hill United Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 3. United is based at Wembley Park in Box Hill South. ...

Dandenong Thunder Dandenong Thunder SC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. Thunder compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. In 2012, Dandenon ...

, before moving to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

play with River Plate and Independiente. Whilst with Independiente, Mahazi first received public attention in

after local

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

journalist Matt Windley wrote an article on

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

about

footballers 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 ...

playing overseas on 7 January 2013. Upon being released and returning home to Australia, Mahazi signed for

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

club

Northcote City Northcote City Football Club (Iraklis) is a soccer club based on the border of Thornbury and Northcote, Victoria (Australia). Formed in 1960 by local Greek Australians, the club currently competes in the NPL Victoria 2. In 2011, Northcote w ...

, where he would make fifteen appearances. At the conclusion of the 2013 season, Mahazi signed his first professional contract with hometown club

in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

, then under

Ange Postecoglou Angelos Postecoglou ( el, Άγγελος Ποστέκογλου, ; born 27 August 1965) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Born in Greece, he moved ...

weeks before his departure to the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

Club career

Melbourne Victory

2013–14

Mahazi signed his first professional senior contract with home town giants

on 4 October 2013 on a two-year contract, being the fifth signing, following

Pablo Contreras Pablo Andrés Contreras Fica (; born 11 September 1978) is a Chilean retired footballer who last played for Melbourne Victory and the Chile national football team as a centre back or even as a right back. Contreras began his career at Colo-Colo ...

James Troisi James Troisi ( ; born 3 July 1988) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Western United. Early life Troisi was born in Rose Park, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, to Greek parent ...

Kosta Barbarouses Konstantinos "Kosta" Barbarouses ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μπαρμπαρούσης; born 19 February 1990) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays in Australia's A-League Men for Wellington Phoenix FC. Club ca ...

Mitch Nichols Mitchell Ian "Mitch" Nichols (born 1 May 1989) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Gold Coast United FC in the National Premier Leagues Queensland. Club career Brisbane Roar He signed a two-year deal on 11 M ...

. Mahazi made his debut at professional level on 12 October 2013 against local rivals

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

in a 0–0 draw. He started in the right central midfield role and was given a yellow card at the 41st minute of the match following a challenge, logging 79 minutes before being substituted for injury returning

Guilherme Finkler Guilherme Finkler (born 24 September 1985) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He is known as Guilherme in Brazil and Gui Finkler in Australia and New Zealand. Early life Finkler was born in Caxias do Sul in the Bra ...

. Mahazi would have to wait four rounds until he could make his second appearance in round six, whilst being on the bench three of those four times. His first away appearance for Melbourne and second start, turned out to be Mahazi's first full ninety-minute appearance against the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

in a 0–1 loss at Pirtek Stadium, on 16 November 2013. His performance awarded him a first full appearance in front of his home supporters on 23 November, in a 3–0 win over

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

. Mahazi was to make another eleven

appearances for Melbourne, bringing the season total to fourteen, logging a total of 1,046 minutes and twelve starts. Mahazi was selected by coach

to be part of the victory's thirty man squad. He was on the bench for play off match against

Muangthong United Muangthong United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลเมืองทอง ยูไนเต็ด) is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League ...

, but featured in all six group stage games, making his Asian and continental debut against

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

coming on as a substitute in the 67th minute with the game finishing in a 2–4 loss. He logged a total of 384 minutes, and started in four of these six games, with three being full ninety-minute appearances. Along with making his A-League and ACL debut, Mahazi also made his home and away debuts to national finals football, for Melbourne Victory. Mahazi played in both of the Victory's elimination and semi-final games, coming on as a substitute in both, logging a total of 34 minutes in finals football.

2014–15

Mahazi featured in the first game of the

& Melbourne Victory's tenth season, coming on as a substitute for Macedonian team mate

Daniel Georgievski Daniel Georgievski ( mk, Даниел Георгиевски; born 17 February 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Australian side Inter Lions. Born in Australia, he represents the North Macedonia national team. Da ...

in the 86th minute, against

on 10 October 2014. Following this appearance, Mahazi went on to make eighteen more appearances for Melbourne Victory in the A-League season with five of these being starts, two of which were full ninety-minute appearances, as well as thirteen substitution appearances, including the premiership winning match against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

on 26 April 2015. Mahazi did not participate in the

2014 FFA Cup The 2014 FFA Cup was the inaugural season of the FFA Cup, the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 631 teams in total from around Australia entered the competition. Only 32 teams competed in the competition proper (Round o ...

for the Victory. Mahazi featured in both matches as a substitute of the Victory's 2015 final series campaign. Mahazi was substituted on for

Mathieu Delpierre Matthieu Delpierre (born 26 April 1981 in Nancy, France) is a retired French footballer who played as a centre back. Delpierre's professional career started with Lille OSC, before a move to VfB Stuttgart in Germany where he eventually became ...

in the 89th minute of the semi final derby against Melbourne City on 8 May 2015. Mahazi's grand final debut came the week later on 17 May 2015 against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

, being substituted on for

Gui Finkler Guilherme Finkler (born 24 September 1985) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He is known as Guilherme in Brazil and Gui Finkler in Australia and New Zealand. Early life Finkler was born in Caxias do Sul in the Braz ...

at the 87th minute.

2015–16

With the offseason departure of

Mark Milligan Mark Daniel Milligan (born 4 August 1985) is an Australian former professional footballer. Starting his career as a defender, Milligan has spent much of his later career playing as a midfielder. He is currently a football expert commentary and ...

, and with captain

Carl Valeri Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

ruled out for the majority of the season due to medical reasons, Mahazi featured in 23 of the Victory's 28 A-League matches, starting 16 times. Mahazi featured in the 2015 FFA Cup Final victory against

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

, being substituted on at the 84th minute for

. In total, Mahazi made 780 passes, won 78 duels, and 110 recoveries throughout the season, and was named as one of the

's top 5 unsung heroes of the A-League season.

2016–17

On 23 July 2016, Mahazi made his unofficial first appearance for the 2016–17 campaign, starting for Melbourne in the club's inaugural

International Champions Cup The International Champions Cup (ICC) was an annual club association football exhibition competition. In 2020, it was abolished due to COVID-19 pandemic. Format The format has changed in each competition. Subsequent tournaments have had diffe ...

match against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in the 2016 tournament, in what finished in a 4–3 victory on penalties at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

. On 3 August 2016, Mahazi officially commenced the season in the round of 32 of the 2016 FFA Cup, starting for Melbourne against

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

winning 3–1. Following the departure of marquee

Oliver Bozanic Oliver John Bozanic (born 8 January 1989) is an Australian Association football, football player who plays as a midfielder for Perth Glory FC, Perth Glory, on loan from Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Western Sydney Wanderers. Bozanic was born in ...

, Mahazi became a regular fixture in midfield to the dismay of supporters, who were critical of his first touch and passing skills. In the regular season's conclusion, Mahazi made thirteen appearances including five starts. In the final series, Mahazi was an unused substitute in both the semi and

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

matches, but was awarded runners up medal. It is believed in the grand final that

planned to have Mahazi be substituted on for captain

but was averted following the contraction of a

migraine Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...

in the pre game warm up. Days after the club's loss in the grand final, it was reported that Mahazi was planning to take

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: *Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure *Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species ''Hiatus fulvipes'' *Globa ...

from the sport for personal reasons, reportedly turning down a renewal offer from Melbourne as well as two other offers from unnamed clubs. On 12 May 2017, Melbourne confirmed that Mahazi was to depart the football club, having made a total of ninety-four appearances in four separate competitions.

Career statistics

Footnotes

:A Includes appearances in the

finals. :B Includes appearances in the Dockerty and FFA cups. :C Includes appearances in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

Honours

Club

: *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2014–2015 * A-League Premiership: 2014–2015 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...