sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Robert Alexander Robert Michel Melki (Arabic: روبير الكساندر روبير ميشيل ملكي, Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: [ˈroːbert ʔalekˈsander ˈmelki, -ke]; born 14 November 1992), known as Alexander Michel Melki,[note 1] is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Swedish club AFC Eskilstuna and the Lebanon national team.[3] A centre-back at the club level, Michel Melki is mainly deployed as a right-back at the international level.[4]

Alexander Michel Melki

Michel Melki with Lebanon at the 2019 Asian Cup
Personal information
Full name	Robert Alexander Robert Michel Melki[1]
Date of birth	(1992-11-14) 14 November 1992 (age 29)
Place of birth	Västertälje [sv], Södertälje, Sweden[1]
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back, right-back
Club information
Current team	AFC Eskilstuna
Number	22
Youth career
	Syrianska FC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2017	Syrianska FC	99	(3)
2017–2018	AFC Eskilstuna	52	(0)
2019–2021	Al-Khor	34	(0)
2021–2022	Al-Shahania	16	(1)
2022–	AFC Eskilstuna	3	(0)
National team‡
2011	Sweden U19	1	(0)
2013	Sweden U21	4	(0)
2018–	Lebanon	24	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:28, 22 August 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:15, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Swedish by birth, Michel Melki represented them at youth level before also acquiring Lebanese nationality through his grandfather on his father's side.[5] He decided to switch allegiance to Lebanon and made his senior international debut in 2018. After following his father's tracks playing at Syrianska for six years, Michel Melki moved to AFC Eskilstuna in 2017, helping them gain promotion back to the Allsvenskan the following season. In 2019 he moved to Qatar, joining Al-Khor before moving to Al-Shahania in 2021.

Born in Sweden, Michel Melki represented his native country at youth levels before switching allegiance to Lebanon in 2018. He took part in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Lebanon's first participation in 19 years.

Early life

Michel Melki was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and a Syriac father, Robert Michel, who used to play for Syrianska when the team was still in the lower divisions of Swedish football.[6] He has a younger brother, Felix, who also plays football.[7]

In an interview with TRT World, his brother Felix stated that their grandfather was Lebanese, and that two of their father's sisters were born in Lebanon.[5]

Club career

Syrianska

Alexander Michel started his career at Syrianska.^{[citation needed]} His personal debut in the first team and in the Allsvenskan took place on 20 June 2011 at the age of 18, with his team being defeated 3–0 against Djurgården.[8] During that season he made a total of 10 league appearances.^{[citation needed]} In 2012 he found further space, with 23 appearances of which 18 as a starter.^{[citation needed]}

Exactly two years after his debut in the Swedish championship, on 20 June 2013 Michel seriously damaged the cruciate ligament of his left knee during a home match against Malmö FF.[9] The injury forced him to stay out of action for a year, with his next official match being played on 25 June 2014 in the Superettan.^{[citation needed]}

Having recovered from the injury, in July 2015 Michel broke the same cruciate ligament damaged two years earlier forcing him to finish the season in advance.[10] His last year at Syrianska was in 2016, with 25 league appearances in the league.^{[citation needed]}

AFC Eskilstuna

After the expiration of his contract with Syrianska,[11] Michel carried out trials with Hammarby and Djurgården in January 2017.[12] A few weeks later, he signed a two-year contract with Allsveskan side AFC Eskilstuna.[13][14]

In his first season in the club, Alexander played 23 games in the Allsvenskan coming last in the league.[3] The following season, relegated to the Superettan, he played 29 league games as well as both play-off games to promote his team back to the first division.[3][15][16]

Al-Khor

On 23 January 2019, during the winter transfer window, Alkass Sports Channels officially announced the signing of Michel Melki to Qatar Stars League side Al-Khor until the end of the season.[17][18] In his first season, in 2018–19, Michel Melki played seven league games,[19] and helped his side avoid relegation by finishing 10th in the league.[20]

During the 2019–20 season, Michel Melki played 20 of the 22 regular season games as a starter, missing two games due to injury, and provided two assists.[21] As Al-Khor finished in 11th place, they played the relegation play-off game against Qatari Second Division side Al-Markhiya.[22] They won the encounter 2–0 after extra time, and avoided relegation once again.[23]

Michel Melki finished runner-up with Al-Khor in the 2020–21 Qatar Stars Cup, featuring in the final against eventual winners Al-Rayyan.[24] After playing seven games during the season, his contract was terminated on 20 February 2021.[25]

Al-Shahania

Michel Melki joined Qatari Second Division side Al-Shahania,[26][27] making his debut in the 2020–21 season on 27 February 2021, in a 2–0 win against Muaither.[28] After playing five games in the regular season,[29] helping his side finish in second place, Michel Melki played against his former side Al-Khor in the promotion play-offs, losing 3–1 and remaining in the Second Division.[30] He scored his only goal for Al-Shahania on 26 February 2022, during the 2021–22 season, in a 5–1 league win against Al-Waab.[31]

Return to AFC Eskilstuna

On 8 August 2022, Michel Melki returned to his former club in Sweden AFC Eskilstuna, reuniting with his brother Felix; he signed a contract until the end of the 2022 Superettan season.[32]

International career

Michel Melki represented Sweden internationally at under-19 and under-21 level.[33]

In 2018, Michel Melki acquired a Lebanese passport due to his origins, making him eligible for the Lebanon national team.[34] He made his international debut for Lebanon on 15 November 2018, playing the whole 90 minutes in a goalless draw against Uzbekistan.[35] Michel Melki was called up for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, alongside his brother Alexander, one month later.[2]

On his 27th birthday, on 14 November 2019, Michel Melki played the whole 90 minutes in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against South Korea.[36] Lebanon held on to a 0–0 draw, with Michel Melki neutralizing Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min;[37] he was widely regarded as the Man of the Match by Lebanese fans.[38]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 August 2022[19][29]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[lower-alpha 1]		League cup[lower-alpha 2]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Syrianska	2011	Allsvenskan	10	0	—		—		—		10	0
	2012	Allsvenskan	23	1	3	0	—		—		26	1
	2013	Allsvenskan	12	2	—		—		—		12	2
	2014	Superettan	15	0	3	0	—		—		18	0
	2015	Superettan	14	0	—		—		—		14	0
	2016	Superettan	25	0	0	0	—		2[lower-alpha 3]	0	27	0
	Total		99	3	6	0	0	0	2	0	107	3
AFC Eskilstuna	2017	Allsvenskan	23	0	—		—		—		23	0
	2018	Superettan	29	0	1	1	—		2[lower-alpha 4]	0	32	1
	Total		52	0	1	1	0	0	2	0	55	1
Al-Khor	2018–19	Qatar Stars League	7	0	—		—		—		7	0
	2019–20	Qatar Stars League	20	0	—		2	0	1[lower-alpha 5]	0	23	0
	2020–21	Qatar Stars League	7	0	—		3	0	—		10	0
	Total		34	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	40	0
Al-Shahania	2020–21	Qatari Second Division	5	0	—		—		3[lower-alpha 6]	0	8	0
	2021–22	Qatari Second Division	11	1	1	0	—		4[lower-alpha 7]	0	16	1
	Total		16	1	1	0	0	0	7	0	24	1
AFC Eskilstuna	2022	Superettan	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
Career total			204	4	8	1	5	0	12	0	229	5

International

As of match played 1 February 2022[29][3]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Lebanon	2018	2	0
	2019	8	0
	2020	1	0
	2021	11	0
	2022	2	0
Total		24	0

Honours

Al-Khor

• Qatari Stars Cup runner-up: 2020–21

See also

• List of Lebanon international footballers born outside Lebanon
• List of association football families

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• Alexander Michel Melki at Lagstatistik
• Alexander Michel Melki at Goalzz.com (also in Arabic at Kooora.com)

На других языках

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- [en] Alexander Michel Melki

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[it] Alexander Michel Melki

Robert Alexander Michel Melki, noto come Alexander Michel Melki a livello internazionale e come Alexander Michel in Svezia (Södertälje, 14 novembre 1992), è un calciatore svedese naturalizzato libanese, difensore dell'AFC Eskilstuna.

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