Ziad Ali Al Samad (; born 6 August 1978) is a Lebanese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who is the goalkeeper coach of club Ansar and the Lebanon national under-23 team. As a player, Al Samad played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. With 47 caps for the Lebanon national team, Al Samad is his country’s all-time most capped goalkeeper.

Club career

Al Samad started his senior club career at

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, ...

club Riada Wal Adab, before moving to Ansar during the 1999–2000 season. In his first season at the club, Al Samad won both the

Lebanese Federation Cup The Lebanese Federation Cup ( ar, كأس الإتحاد اللبناني) was a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The competition was hosted five times, and served as the domestic League Cup. The cup was a preparatory competition held at ...

, and the

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

. The following season, in 2000–01, Al Samad helped Ansar win both the

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () is a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was contested by the top five finish ...

, and the Federation Cup. In 2001–02, Al Samad won the Lebanese FA Cup, before helping Ansar winning two domestic doubles (league and cup) in a row, in 2005–06 and 2006–07. In 2008, Al Samad moved to

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

, staying there for three seasons season. In 2011 he moved to

2008 AFC Cup The 2008 AFC Cup was the fifth edition of the AFC Cup, playing between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. Qualified teams 20 clubs will be competing, including champions of the national leagues and champio ...

runners-up Safa. In his three seasons at the club, Al Samad would help Safa win two league titles ( 2011–12, 2012–13), an FA Cup ( 2012–13), another Elite Cup (

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 ...

), and a Super Cup (2013). On 30 September 2014, Safa sold Al Samad to Bahraini side Saham on a one-season deal. Following the

2014–15 Oman Professional League The 2014–15 Oman Professional League (known as the ''Omantel Professional League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 39th edition of the top football league in Oman. The season began on 11 September 2014, and concluded on 28 May 2015. Al-Nahda ...

season, Al Samad retired from football.

International career

Al Samad made his senior international debut for

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

on 1 September 2002 at the

2002 WAFF Championship The 2002 West Asian Football Federation Championship took part in Syrian Capital of Damascus. Iraq won the final against Jordan 3–2 after extra time coming back from 0–2 at half time. The 6 entrants were Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Palestine, Leba ...

, against

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

; Lebanon lost 1–0. The goalkeeper's first

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

came on 26 December 2002, at the 2002 Arab Nations Cup, in a goalless draw against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. Al Samad ended his international career with 47 caps for the Lebanon national team, as his country’s all-time most capped goalkeeper.

Managerial career

On 12 August 2020, Al Samad was appointed goalkeeper coach of the Lebanon national under-23 team. He became goalkeeper coach of

side

AC Sporting Sporting Athletic Club ( ar, نادي سبورتينغ الرياضي), known as AC Sporting or simply Sporting, is a football club based in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They first competed in the Lebanese Premier League in 2021, havi ...

on 18 June 2021. On 27 September 2021, following

Jamal Taha Jamal Khamis Taha ( ar, جمال خميس طه; born 23 November 1966) is a football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Ansar. Nicknamed "the Brown Gazelle" (), Taha was born in Egypt to an Egyptian father and a Lebanese ...

's appointment as head coach, Al Samad was confirmed goalkeeper coach of Lebanon U23. On 28 June 2022, he was appointed goalkeeper coach of Ansar.

Honours

Ansar *

: 2005–06, 2006–07 *

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The first edition, held in 1937, was won by Nahda. The most successful club in the competition is Ansar with 15 titles, followed by Nejmeh ...

: 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07 *

: 2000 *

: 1999, 2000 *

: 1999 Safa * Lebanese Premier League: 2011–12, 2012–13 * Lebanese FA Cup: 2012–13 * Lebanese Elite Cup:

* Lebanese Super Cup: 2013 Individual *

Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season 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 ...

: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12, 2012–13

References

External links

*
Ziad Al Samad
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...