Zohib Islam Amiri ( prs, ذهیب اسلام امیری; born 15 February 1990) is an Afghan 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 ...

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. Acco ...

, Afghanistan. Growing up he played football often, using a homemade ball made 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 (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

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 Tolgay Özbey (born 12 April 1986) is an Australian professional soccer player, who last played for Rockdale City Suns in the National Premier Leagues NSW as a striker. Biography Australian Clubs Early in his career, Özbey was recognized ...

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. Demp ...

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 DSK Shivajians Football Club (founded as Shivajians Sports Club) was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club was owned by the DSK Group, and competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league ...

. He finished the season with

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 pa ...

, 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 season, Amiri joined Real Kashmir. He also appeared with the club in

2021 IFA Shield The 2021 IFA Shield is the 124th edition of the IFA Shield. It will have 1 Indian Super League team, 5 I-League teams and 10 Calcutta Premier Division The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian ...

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, 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 mountainous ...

Zohib Islam Amiri (in red uniform) vs Jeje Lalpekhlua (in blue uniform)

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 ...

, and was the rock of which the Afghan defense was built on. He scored goals in a 3–0 win over

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 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. 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 Ahmad Arash Hatifi (born 13 March 1986) is a professional football player who is a midfielder and currently plays for Oakland Stompers. Born in the United States, he represents the Afghanistan national team. Career Youth Born in Oakland, C ...

Balal Arezou Balal Arezou (also Belal or Bilal; born 28 December 1988) is an Afghan footballer who plays as a forward and is currently playing for Norwegian club IF Trauma. He is currently the all-time top scorer of the Afghanistan national football team ...

, 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 ...

. 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 nati ...

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:

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 fact ...

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 to ...

: 2021

References

External links

Zohib Islam Amiri archives
at ''Khel Now'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Amiri, Zohib Islam Living people 1990 births Hazara sportspeople Afghan men's footballers Footballers from Kabul Men's association football central defenders Afghanistan men's international footballers Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Afghanistan I-League players Indian Super League players Ligue1 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 men's footballers Afghan expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India Afghan expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Afghan expatriate sportspeople in the Maldives Expatriate men's footballers in the Maldives