Ettifaq FC

Ettifaq FC

Full name	Ettifaq Football Club
Nickname(s)	Etti Faris Ad-Dahna(The Knight of Ad-Dahna) The Commandos
Founded	1944
Ground	Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Dammam, Saudi Arabia (Capacity: 26,000)
Chairman	Abdulaziz Al-Dossary
Manager	Sameer Hilal (caretaker)
League	Saudi Professional League
2010/2011	3rd
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Ettifaq FC or Al-Ettifaq Club (Arabic: نادي الاتفاق‎) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Dammam. 'Ittifaq' is Arabic for cooperation. Al Ettifaq was established after the merging of three clubs in the City of Dammam at the year 1944. Al Ettifaq is the first Saudi team to win an international title - the 1984 Arab Club Champions Cup. Al Ettifaq is also the first team to win the Saudi Premier League without any defeat. Al Ettifaq is also the first side from Saudi Arabia to win the Persian Gulf Champions Cup. Al Ettifaq have a total of 13 different titles to their name.

Achievements

• Saudi Premier League: 2
  • Champions: 1983, 1987

• Crown Prince Cup: 1
  • Champions: 1965
  • Runner-up (4): 1963, 2001, 2008, 2012

• King's Cup: 2
  • Champions: 1968, 1985
  • Runner-up (4): 1965, 1966, 1983, 1988

• Saudi Federation cup: 3
  • Champions: 1991, 2003, 2004
  • Runner-up (4): 1987, 1995, 1996, 2005

• Arab Champions League: 2
  • Champions: 1984, 1988

• Gulf Club Champions Cup: 3
  • Champions: 1983, 1988, 2006
  • Runner-up (1): 2007

Performance in AFC competitions

• Asian Club Championship: 1 appearance

• Asian Club Championship 1989:

• Qualifying Round: Al Ettifaq qualified to the Asian Club Championship after winning the GCC Champions League, ending top of the group that consisted of Kazma (Kuwait), Al Sharjah (UAE), Fanja (Oman), and West Riffa (Bahrain).

• Semi-final (Group Stage): Al Ettifaq finished second in their group after losing their penultimate game against the eventual champions, Qatari side Al-Sadd (2-1) in a highly controversial game. Apart from the two clubs, the group contained April 25 SC (North Korea), Mohammedan SC (Bangladesh), and Pahang (Malaysia).^[1]

• AFC Champions League: 2 appearances

• AFC Champions League 2009:

• Group Stage - Round of 32: Al Ettifaq was arguably one of the best performers in the group stage after finishing top of the group with 12 points. They won 4 games, lost 2, and scored 15 goals in 6 games, recording the third best attacking stats in the continent in that round. Al Ettifaq were placed in Group D along FC Bunyodkor (led by Brazilian ace Rivaldo), Sepahan Isfahan, and Al Shabab (UAE).

• Round of 16: Al Ettifaq were knocked from the Round of 16 against Pakhtakor (UZB). After leading 1-0 at halftime, they conceded two late goals that ended their hopes in qualifying to the quarter-final.^[2]

• AFC Champions League 2012:

• Al Ettifaq were placed in the second round of the qualifying stages, playing against the winner of the two Iranian sides: Esteghlal Tehran FC and Zob Ahan Isfahan FC. It will be a one-off game played on 18 February 2012 in Iran, with the winner being placed in Group A along with Al Rayyan (QAT), Al Jazira (UAE), and 2011 AFC Cup winners Nasaf Qarshi (UZB). The defeated team in the qualifier will go directly to the group stages of the 2012 AFC Cup.
• The draw was held in 6 December 2011 in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. ^[3]

• AFC Cup: 1 appearance

• AFC Cup 2012:

• After failing to qualify to the group stage of the 2012 AFC Champions League, Al-Ettifaq qualified automatically to the 2012 AFC Cup, and were drawn in Group C with Kuwait SC of Kuwait, Al Ahed of Lebanon, and VB Sports Club of the Maldives.
• Al Ettifaq started the competition as favorites and a strong candidate to win the competition, winning 5-1 in their first group game against Kuwait SC in Kuwait. The second game was frustrating to the Saudis as they drew in their own stadium 0-0 with Al Ahed. They defeated the underdogs of the group VB Sports Club by 6-3 in the Maldives and 2-0 in the reverse fixture. Al Ettifaq sealed their promotion with a 2-2 draw against Kuwait SC before finishing the group with a 3-1 victory in Lebanon against Al Ahed.
• Al Ettifaq finished off their season with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Omani side Al-Suwaiq SC in the Round of 16 to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Current squad

The following is the preliminary squad before the beginning of the 2011/2012 Saudi Professional League^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Mohammad Khojah 2 DF Ali Al-Zobaidy 3 DF Jamaan Al-Jamaan 4 DF Carlos 5 DF Sayyaf Al-Beeshi (C) 7 DF Abdulmuttaleb Al-Treadi 8 MF Yahya Al-Shehri 9 FW Hamad Al-Hamad 10 FW Saleh Basheer 11 MF Bruno Lazaroni 12 DF Saad Al-Thiab 13 FW Khaled Al-Aboud 14 DF Ahmad Akash 15 DF Hassan Mudhafar 16 FW Yousef Al-Salem 17 MF Mohammed Al-Sefri

No. Position Player 18 FW Sebastián Tagliabué 19 MF Ahmad Al-Mubarak 20 MF Sultan Al-Bargan 21 MF Ibraheem Al-Mughanam 22 GK Mustafa Al-Mailo 23 MF Salman Al-Hareery 24 MF Ibraheem Al-Ibraheem 25 MF Ahmad Sa'ad 26 DF Mortada Al-Barrih 28 MF Fahad Al-Mubarak 29 DF Abdullah Al-Hafedh 30 GK Abdullah Al-Saleh 31 MF Abdulrahman Al-Khaibary 32 GK Fayez Al-Subaie 33 MF Mohammed Al-Shareef 99 FW Zamil Al-Sulim

Notable players

Managerial history

Note: The table is currently being updated.

Dates Name Notes 1944–75 1976–78 Khalil Al-Zayani 1979–80 1980–84 Khalil Al-Zayani Coincided with the most successful period of the club (4 titles). 1984–86 1986–90 Khalil Al-Zayani Won 3 titles. 1990–93 1993-1994 Wojciech Łazarek 1994–96 Khalil Al-Zayani 1996–99 1999–00 Khalil Al-Zayani 2005–06 Ednaldo Patricio 2006–07 Ammar Al-Suwayeh 2006 Gulf Club Champions Cup (Winner). 2007–08 Toni Oliveira 2007 Gulf Club Champions Cup (Runner-up). 2008–09 Ioan Andone Achieved club's best performance in the AFC Champions League (Round of 16). 2009–11 Ion Marin 2011 Youssef Zouaoui 2011–12 Branko Ivanković 2012 Ammar Al-Suwayeh

Club Anthem

Hieddihieddit welcome *** O maker names

You from the echo of history between the lines praise *** O Knight Dahna In the east in Dammam *** you sing bulimia And for us in every place, singing a song *** Learned from the media *** Calfars Miqdaam In the courtyard of Hija *** O Knight Dahna I live Aalag Saudi

Resources and References

External links

• Official Website

Preceded by Al-Arabi	GCC Champions League Runner up: Al-Arabi 1983	Succeeded by Al-Ahli
Preceded by Kazma	GCC Champions League Runner up: Kazma 1988	Succeeded by Fanja SC
Preceded by Qadsia SC	GCC Champions League Runner up: Qadsia SC 2006	Succeeded by Al Jazira