Fajr Ibrahim
Fajr Ibrahim in 2019
Personal information
Full name Fajr Ibrahim[1]
Date of birth (1964-06-22) 22 June 1964 (age 59)
Place of birth Damascus, Syria
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Syria (caretaker manager)
Youth career
1976–1979 Al-Wahda
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1996 Al-Wahda
International career
1981 Syria U20
1982–1987 Syria
Managerial career
2006–2008 Syria
2008–2010 Syria
2011–2012 Al-Shorta
2013 Duhok
2015–2016 Syria
2017–2018 Al-Minaa
2018 Kelantan
2019 Syria
2020– Al-Horgelah
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fajr Ibrahim (Arabic: فَجر إبرَاهِيْم; born 22 June 1964) is a Syrian football coach and former player.[2][3]

Club career

Fajr started playing in the Syrian League with Al-Wahda team in 1979. He remained with the club until he retired from the playing. He won the Syrian Cup in 1993 with Al-Wahda team and won the title of best left back in 1986 season.[4]

International career

Fajr played several international matches with Syria for five years from 1982 until 1987.[4]

Coaching career

He managed the Syrian first team more than 50 matches between 2006 and 2019. He did an emergency mission and replaced the German manager Bernd Stange in the last match for the team in 2019 Asian Cup against Australia. Many pundits referred that he had the UAE visa since the middle of December,[5] so he could be ready to replace the manager if the things went wrong.

Widely unpopular with the fans and criticized by the media,[6] Ibrahim is often considered one of the reasons for the Syria national team's poor results after their 2019 Asian Cup exit,[7] citing his lack of achievements,[8] and lack of vision,[9] as some of his weakest traits, although Syria at that time had already in problem before Fajr took charge.[10] However, he has repeatedly and openly refused to resign and has been kept as manager by the Syrian Federation,[11] despite losing to many lesser-ranked and weaker teams, much to the bewilderment of both fans and journalists.[12]

However, the sentiment changed surprisingly during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round. Syria, under the same command of Fajr Ibrahim, surprised the whole qualifiers by topping the group with five straight victories, including two important victories against rising Philippines,[13][14] and a resounding 2–1 win in the UAE against China.[15] However, he was later replaced by Tunisian coach Nabil Maâloul.

In September 2020, Ibrahim joined newly-promoted club Al-Horgelah.[16]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 19 November 2019
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Syria Syria 5 August 2006 26 March 2008 24 13 5 6 054.17
Syria Syria 13 November 2008 13 September 2010 16 10 4 2 062.50
Al-Shorta Syria 28 August 2011 10 April 2012 20 15 3 2 075.00
Duhok Iraq 1 February 2013 4 December 2013 32 15 8 9 046.88
Syria Syria 7 January 2015 30 March 2016 13 10 0 3 076.92
Al-Minaa Iraq 8 September 2017 21 January 2018 10 2 7 1 020.00
Kelantan Malaysia 21 March 2018 5 June 2018 6 1 1 4 016.67
Syria Syria 11 January 2019 31 December 2019 18 7 4 7 038.89
Total 139 73 32 34 052.52

Honours

Player

Al-Wahda

Manager

Al-Shorta

Syria

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Syria - Fajr Ebrahim - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  2. ^ الميناء يعين فجر ابراهيم مديراً فنياً للفريق بدلاً لغازي فهد (in Arabic). almirbad.com. 4 September 2017.
  3. ^ السوري فجر ابراهيم مدرباً للميناء (in Arabic). aynaliraqnews.com. 4 September 2017.
  4. ^ a b c فجر ابراهيم .. مسؤولية اتخاذ القرارات المناسبة (in Arabic). esyria.sy. 18 June 2013.
  5. ^ مداخلة فجر إبراهيم في برنامج المجلس بعد تعيينه مدرباً لمنتخب سوريا. SHOOT HD (in Arabic). 10 January 2019.[dead YouTube link]
  6. ^ مصير مدرب سوريا بين مطرقة الوديات وضغط الجمهور. Kooora (in Arabic). 19 June 2019.
  7. ^ 3 أسباب تعجل برحيل مدرب سوريا. Kooora (in Arabic). 9 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Coach Fajr Ibrahim wants to quit Kelantan after three games in charge". Fox Sports Asia. 4 May 2018.
  9. ^ "Intercontinental Cup 2019: Fajr Ibrahim - India have a different mentality now". Yahoo!. 16 July 2019.
  10. ^ نتائج سوريا في غرب آسيا مخزية. Kooora (in Arabic). 14 August 2019.
  11. ^ الاتحاد الرياضي العام يجدد الثقة بالمدير الفني لمنتخب سوريا. Kooora (in Arabic). 14 August 2019.
  12. ^ عفش يستغرب بقاء فجر إبراهيم. Kooora (in Arabic). 16 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Philippines 2-5 Syria". 6 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Syria 1-0 Philippines". 20 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Own goal gifts Syria 2-1 win over China in FIFA World Cup qualifier - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019.
  16. ^ حرجلة يلهب الميركاتو بالتعاقد مع إبراهيم وعالمة. Kooora (in Arabic). 28 September 2020.
  17. ^ فجر إبراهيم : مسيرة حافلة مع المنتخب الأول (in Arabic). old.syrian-soccer.com. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2017.

External links

Syria squad – 2019 AFC Asian Cup
Al-Mina'a SC – managers
Kelantan F.C. – Head coaches
Syria national football team – managers
Categories