Kenneth Hasan "Kenny" Saief ( ar, كينيث حسن "كيني" سيف, he, קנת' חסן "קני" סייף; born ) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Azerbaijan Premier League club Neftçi and the United States national team. He played for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

internationally at both youth and senior levels, before switching allegiance.

Early life

Saief was born in

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...

, U.S., to Druze-Israeli parents; The family returned to

when he was three.

Club career

Saief began his professional career with

Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Sakhnin F.C. ( ar, اتحاد أبناء سخنين, he, איחוד בני סכנין, ''Ihud Bnei Sakhnin''; ''Ittihad Abna Sakhnin'', ) is an Israeli football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful clu ...

in 2011, before he was transferred to

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups (1 ...

one season later. The next year, he moved to Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona and reached the final of the Israel State Cup. Saief made only two appearances however, which resulted in a transfer to Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon. There he gained more playing opportunities. Saief attracted the attention of Belgian Pro League team K.A.A. Gent, who signed him for a three-year deal on August 8, 2014. On May 22, 2018, Saief officially signed to Anderlecht. On March 6, 2019, Saief was loaned to

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

of Major League Soccer. On March 24, 2019, Saief scored his first MLS goal against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

. On June 11, 2019, Saief's loan was terminated due to injury complications. On February 12, 2020 he was loaned to Polish Ekstraklasa's Lechia Gdańsk until the end of 2019–20 season.

International career

Saief has represented the Israel national team at various youth levels. He reportedly stated that he expected to play for the United States national team, although he was called up to the Israel national team and made his debut in a friendly 2–1 loss to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. On June 3, 2017, Saief was called up by the United States as part of their 40-man preliminary roster for the

2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF, and 24th CONCACAF regional championship ove ...

. As part of his callup, Saief filed a one-time switch with FIFA, tying him permanently to the US program. On June 22, 2017, U.S. Soccer confirmed that Saief had been approved by FIFA for a change of association. He was chosen to make his first start for the United States against Paraguay on March 27, 2018.

Career statistics

Honors

Gent *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

: 2014–15 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

: 2015

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saief, Kenny 1993 births Living people People from Panama City, Florida Association football midfielders American soccer players Soccer players from Florida United States men's international soccer players Israel under-21 international footballers Israel international footballers American people of Israeli descent American Druze People with acquired Israeli citizenship Arab citizens of Israel Israeli Druze Arab-Israeli footballers Druze sportspeople Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Hapoel Haifa F.C. players Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Beitar Nes Tubruk F.C. players TSV 1860 Munich players Bnei Sakhnin F.C. players Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon F.C. players K.A.A. Gent players R.S.C. Anderlecht players FC Cincinnati players Lechia Gdańsk players F.C. Ashdod players Neftçi PFK players Israeli Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Major League Soccer players Azerbaijan Premier League players Israeli expatriate footballers American expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Germany Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Poland Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium American expatriate soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Poland American expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Dual internationalists (football)