Walid "Tatta" Atta ( ar, وليد عطا, translit=Walīd 'Aṭā, am, ዋሊድ አታ; born 28 August 1986) is an Ethiopian

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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Hittarps IK Hittarps IK is a Swedish football club located in Helsingborg. Background Hittarps IK currently plays in Division 2 Skåne Nordvästra which is the fourth tier of Swedish football. They play their home matches at the Laröds IP in Helsingborg. ...

Career

AIK

In January 2008, Atta joined Swedish top-division side

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, but was immediately loaned back to Väsby. He made his first appearance for his new club on 10 April 2008 against

GIF Sundsvall Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollförbund and plays its h ...

Råsunda Stadium Råsunda Stadium (; also known as Råsunda Fotbollsstadion, Råsundastadion, Råsunda Football Stadium or just Råsunda) was the Swedish national football stadium. It was located in Solna Municipality in Stockholm and named after the district i ...

, playing the full game in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. In the summer of 2010, Atta's situation at AIK came in doubt when he turned down a contract extension with the club. Together with his agent, he cut off the negotiations with AIK, and stated that he wanted to await bids from clubs outside of Sweden. This angered the AIK supporters, and in the 2–1 win against

IF Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is t ...

, parts of the crowd openly showed their disappointment. Some organized supporters demanded Atta to be disbanded from playing in AIK until he signed a new deal with the club. The club board followed the demands and stopped Atta from participate in AIK's

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

qualification game against

PFC Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

. In 2010, Atta was sold to Croatian First Division side

NK Lokomotiva Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional association football, football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First ...

Dinamo Zagreb

After one season in Lokomotiva, he signed a 5-year contract with Croatian giants

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

. However, his time at Dinamo was not prosperous, making no appearances apart from a friendly against GOŠK Gabela. In January 2012, the contract was terminated by mutual consent and Atta became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Helsingborgs IF

Soon after becoming a free agent, Atta was signed by

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

side

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superet ...

. He has since become a regular in the starting eleven.

BK Häcken

On 6 March 2014 Atta signed with

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 Augu ...

prior to start of the 2014 Allsvenskan campaign.

Hittarps IK

On 13 February 2019, Atta joined

International

In 2008, Atta also became a member of the Swedish U-21 team, making his debut in a friendly against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

on 5 February 2008, in

Alcanena Alcanena () is a portuguese town and municipality of Ribatejo in Santarém District. The population in 2011 was 13,868, in an area of 127.33 km². The current Mayor is Rui Anastácio (Partido Social Democrata) and the president of the Munici ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He played a total of 3 matches for the Swedish U-21 team. In October 2013 he decided to represent

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

at senior level. Atta was supposed to make his debut against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the African play-offs for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, but the needed papers did not arrive in time. He finally made his debut in a qualifiers match for the 2015 CAF against Mali in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia lost that match in Addis Ababa but won the second leg in Mali. Walid played in both these matches.Inget VM-playoff för Atta

Honours

AIK *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Helsingborgs IF *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

Walid Atta at aikfotboll.se

Walid Atta at Playerhistory.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atta, Walid 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Riyadh Ethiopian footballers Ethiopian expatriate footballers Ethiopia international footballers Ethiopian people of Eritrean descent Swedish footballers Sweden youth international footballers Swedish people of Ethiopian descent Swedish sportspeople of African descent Sportspeople of Ethiopian descent Swedish people of Eritrean descent Swedish expatriate footballers Association football defenders AIK Fotboll players AFC Eskilstuna players Allsvenskan players Superettan players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players BK Häcken players Najran SC players Khaleej FC players Saudi First Division League players Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Croatian Football League players Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Turkey Östersunds FK players Süper Lig players Sogndal Fotball players