Ahmad Hatifi

Ahmad Hatifi
Personal information
Full nameAhmad Arash Hatifi
Date of birth13 March 1986
Place of birthOakland, California, United States[1]
Height1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
Bay Oaks
2005–2008UC Davis Aggies
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2012–2013Bay Area Ambassadors
2013–2014Mumbai15(1)
National team‡
2011–Afghanistan12(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 07, 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of June 07, 2014

Ahmad Arash Hatifi (born 13 March 1986) is an American-born Afghan professional football player who is a midfielder that is currently a free agent.

Career

Youth

Born in Oakland, California, Hatifi grew up in Alameda, California and attended Alameda High School where he captained the varsity soccer team.[1] He then started to attend University of California, Davis in 2004 where he started to play for the soccer team in 2005.[1] He captained the team in his junior and senior years.[2] After leaving college, Hatifi played for the Bay Area Ambassadors of the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of American soccer, from 2012 to 2013.[3]

Mumbai

On 1 November 2013 it was confirmed that Hatifi had signed with Mumbai F.C. of the I-League in India.[4] He then made his debut for the side the next day against Bengaluru FC at the Balewadi Sports Complex in which he started and played 87 minutes as Mumbai drew the match 2–2.[5]

International

In 2007, Hatifi was selected to play for Afghanistan in the World Cup qualifiers against Syria and Sri Lanka.[3] He scored his first goal for his country on 20 August 2013 against Pakistan in which he found the net in the 32nd minute as Afghanistan went on to win the match 3–0.[6] He then won his first ever championship with Afghanistan on 11 September 2013 when his country won the 2013 SAFF Championship by beating India 2–0.[7] On May 22 Hatifi scored the second goal in Afghanistan's 3-1 victory over Turkmenistan at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. This was also Afghanistan's first every victory at the AFC Challenge Cup in eight attempts. [8]

Unfortunately though after Afghanistan's 0-0 draw with Laos that confirmed their progression out of the group stage, an accident occurred while the Afghan players were being driven back to their hotel. Hatifi suffered injuries along with teamamtes Zohib Islam Amiri, Faisal Sakhizada, Balal Arezou, and Mustafa Azadzoy, the latter of which will have to take three weeks off to recover, while Hatifi is set to miss two weeks. All five players are set to miss the semi finals against Palestine. Former coach Mohammad Yousef Kargar and current coach Erich Rutemöller also suffered minor injures.[9] [10] [11] [12]


Career statistics

Club

As of 27 April 2014[13]
Club Season League Federation Cup Durand Cup AFC Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mumbai 2013–14 I-League15100————151
Career total 151000000151

National team statistics

As of 2 November 2013
Afghanistan national team
YearAppsGoals
201130
201381
Total111

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 20 August 2013 Ghazi Stadium, Kabul, Afghanistan  Pakistan 2–0 3–0 International friendly
2 22 May 2014 Addu Football Stadium, Addu City, Maldives  Turkmenistan 2–0 3–1 2014 AFC Challenge Cup

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "AHMAD HATIFIE". UC Davis. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Afghan Premier Profile". Afghan Premier FC. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Ahmad Hatifie". National-Football-Teams. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Mumbai FC rope in Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Barikzai and Ahmad Hatifie". Goal.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "MUMBAI VS. BENGALURU 2 - 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  6. ↑ Allen, Karen. "Afghanistan beat Pakistan 3-0 in Kabul friendly". BBC. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  7. ↑ Bali, Rahul. "Afghanistan 2-0 India: The Lions of Khorasan win their first ever SAFF Championship title". Goal.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "AFC Challenge Cup: Afghanistan 3-1 Turkmenistan". AFC. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Afghan contingent suffers minor injuries in team bus accident". AFC. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  10. ↑ Shimaaz Ali (25 May 2014). "Five Afghan players to miss semi". Maldives Soccer. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Mohamed Sajid (25 May 2014). "Afghanistan is all over worried". Maldives Soccer. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Shimaaz Ali (24 May 2014). "Afghan five players injured due to the accident". Maldives Soccer. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Ahmad Hatifi profile at Soccerway