Zohib Islam Amiri ( prs, ذهیب اسلام امیری; born 15 February 1990) is a 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 ...
from
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
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
A.S. Blainville and the
Afghanistan national team.
Early life
Amiri was born on 15 February 1990
to an ethnic
Hazara family in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acc ...
, Afghanistan. Growing up he played football often, using a homemade ball consisting of rolled up fabric stitched together. During the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pashtu ...
rule he often witnessed executions at the national stadium.
Club career
Early career
Amiri started his career with Shoa F.C. in 2005. In 2007, he went to play for
Kabul Bank F.C.
Mumbai FC
Amiri joined Mumbai FC in 2011, and quickly became one of the star players at the club. Following his impressive performances during the
2012–13 I-League
The 2012–13 I-League was the sixth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 6 October 2012 and finished on 12 May 2013 with Churchill Brothers ...
he received the award for the fan's players on the season.
Despite reviving this prestigious award his contract with Mumbai FC was not renewed and Amiri began thinking of moving to Bahrain or Oman to play club football, but ultimately decided to stay in India.
Dempo SC
On 11 January, Amiri along with
Tolgay Özbey signed for Indian club
Dempo
Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Mr. Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941 along with his younger brother Mr. Vaikuntrao Dempo. Mr. Vasantrao S. Dempo ...
on a one-year contract, and received shirt number 18.
He made his debut against Rangdajied United and scored. On 7 April he was involved in an ugly brawl in a match between Dempo SC and his former club Mumbai FC.
On 30 May both Amiri and Özbey signed extensions with Dempo.
On 4 April 2015, he scored two goals, including one only one minute from time to salvage a 2–2 draw with
Sporting Goa.
DSK Shivajians
In January 2016, Amiri announced he signed a contract with Indian football club
DSK Shivajians. He finished the season with
DSK Shivajians last but did not relegate with his team because other clubs withdraw from the league.
Chennai City
In January 2017, Amiri joined
Chennai City FC
Chennai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, that last competed in the I-League, then one of the top flights of Indian football league system, and Chennai Football League. Established in ...
in the Indian
I-League
The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...
. He left after disagreement with the coach.
Blainville
In 2019, he briefly played with
A.S. Blainville in the Canadian
Première ligue de soccer du Québec
The Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012. The Quebec Soccer Federation operates both men's and women's divisions at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The league is ...
, playing in cup matches, earning a red card in one.
Gokulam Kerala
On 2 November 2019, it was announced that Amiri joined
Gokulam Kerala for
2019 i league.
Return to Blainville
Amiri also played with Blainville in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Real Kashmir
In 2021, ahead of the
2021–22 I-League
The 2021–22 I-League (also known as Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) is the 15th season of I-League, last as the top tier of Indian football league system, since its establishment in 2007. All the matches are hosted in a bio-secure bub ...
season, Amiri joined
Real Kashmir. He also appeared with the club in
2021 IFA Shield.
International career
Amiri made his debut in the
2005 SAFF Gold Cup against Maldives. He was part of the
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
squad for the
2011 SAFF Championship
The 2011 South Asian Football Federation Championship, sponsored by Karbonn Mobiles and officially named Karbonn SAFF Championship 2011, was the 9th tournament of the SAFF Championship, which held in New Delhi, India.
Venue
It was originally s ...
, where they reached the final for the first time. Wearing number 3 he contributed many memorable performances, including scoring one of the goals in Afghanistan's biggest ever victory over
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
Two years later Amiri served as captain for Afghanistan at the
2013 SAFF Championship
The 2013 South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly referred to as 2013 SAFF Championship, was the 10th SAFF Championship for men's national football teams organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The tournament took p ...
, and was the rock of which the Afghan defense was built on. He scored goals in a 3–0 win over
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
and a 3–1 win over
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. He played a crucial role as Afghanistan made it to the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
for a second consecutive time an achieved a 2–0 victory against
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
In May 2014 Amiri captained the squad to the
2014 AFC Challenge Cup
The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup was the fifth and the final edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the now d ...
in the Maldives. On 22 May he scored the first goal of the game with a bullet header in Afghanistan's 3–1 victory over
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
at the
2014 AFC Challenge Cup
The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup was the fifth and the final edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the now d ...
. This was also Afghanistan's first every victory at the
AFC Challenge Cup
The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. "Vision Asia", created by former AFC president, ...
in eight attempts. After Afghanistan's 0–0 draw with
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
that confirmed their progression out of the group stage, an accident occurred while the Afghan players were being driven back to their hotel. Amiri suffered minor injuries, along with
Faisal Sakhizada,
Ahmad Hatifi,
Balal Arezou, and
Mustafa Azadzoy, the latter of which will have to take three weeks off to recover. All five players are set to miss the semi finals against
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...
. Former coach
Mohammad Yousef Kargar and current coach
Erich Rutemöller
Erich Rutemöller (born 8 February 1945) is a German retired football manager and player.
Coaching career
Rutemöller has headed 1. FC Köln, Hansa Rostock and Bonner SC during his coaching career. He was an assistant coach for the Germany na ...
also suffered minor injuries.
Career statistics
:''Scores and results list Afghanistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Amiri goal.''
Honours
Afghanistan
*
SAFF Championship
The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...
:
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
Real Kashmir
*
IFA Shield
The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield tou ...
: 2021
References
External links
Zohib Islam Amiri archivesat ''Khel Now''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amiri, Zohib Islam
Living people
1990 births
Hazara sportspeople
Afghan men's footballers
Footballers from Kabul
Association football central defenders
Afghanistan international footballers
Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games
Asian Games competitors for Afghanistan
I-League players
Indian Super League players
Première Ligue de soccer du Québec players
Dhivehi Premier League players
Mumbai FC players
Dempo SC players
FC Goa players
DSK Shivajians FC players
Chennai City FC players
New Radiant S.C. players
A.S. Blainville players
Gokulam Kerala FC players
Afghan expatriate footballers
Afghan expatriate sportspeople in India
Expatriate footballers in India
Afghan expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate soccer players in Canada
Afghan expatriate sportspeople in the Maldives
Expatriate footballers in the Maldives