Tarek Al Taib ( ar, طارق التائب; born 28 February 1977) is a

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

n football midfielder.

Club career

Al-Taib began his career in Libya with Al Ahli Tripoli. In his first year, he played 26 matches and scored 11 goals, coming third in the 1997–1998 Libyan Player of the Year award. He then went on to win the award five times in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2005. On 6 September 2013, he signed a one-year contract with

Oman Professional League The Oman Professional League ( ar, دوري المحترفين عمان; known as the '' Omantel Professional League'' for sponsorship reasons), previously known as the Omantel Elite League, is the top division of the Oman Football Association, ...

club Al-Suwaiq Club. El Taib played professionally in Turkey and Tunisia.

Offers

In 1995, a scout sent from Juventus went to Libya to search for young potential, he chose Tariq Al Taib and he went with him to Italy and trained with Juventus for a month. Juventus were impressed and decided to buy him, but the

Libyan Football Federation The Libyan Football Federation ( ar, الاتحاد الليبي لكرة القدم; abbreviated as LFF) is the governing body of football in Libya. It was founded in 1962, affiliated to FIFA in 1964 and to CAF in 1965. It organizes the nati ...

did not grant him a license to play in Italy. In 2000, he went to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and played with them in a friendly match against Arsenal which ended with Arsenal winning 2–1, in which Tariq Al Taib scored West Ham's goal. Arsenal were interested in buying him but again, he was unable to get a license to play in England. In 2003, after a friendly match against Argentina, in which Tariq Al Taib put in a strong performance and scored a remarkable goal, receiving a pass from a team-mate near the corner post, running down the wing past two players and then scoring at nearly a 180-degree angle. He then received an offer from the Spanish club

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

but the Libyan authorities restricted his potential career at the highest level.

International career

El Taib captained the side during the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers and the

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

. He was Libya's captain during the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, but was exiled from the side after he spoke out against teammates who supported rebel groups fighting in the

First Libyan Civil War The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Libya ...

in 2011. El Taib scored 23 goals in 78 appearances for Libya. In the '' Championship Manager'' video game, his name was rendered as "Tarek Ettayeb".

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

; Al-Hilal *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

(1): 2007–08 *

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

(2): 2007–08, 2008–09

References

External links

*
TFF statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taib, Tarik El 1977 births Living people Libyan footballers Libyan expatriate footballers Libya international footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players CS Sfaxien players Al Hilal SFC players Gaziantepspor footballers Association football midfielders Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Muaither SC players S.C. Beira-Mar players al-Nasr SC (Kuwait) players Misr Lel Makkasa SC players Süper Lig players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Kuwait Expatriate footballers in Egypt Expatriate footballers in Oman Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Qatar People from Tripoli, Libya Suwaiq Club players Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Libyan expatriate sportspeople in Oman Al-Ahli SC (Tripoli) players Saudi Professional League players Qatari Second Division players Kuwait Premier League players Libyan Premier League players