Sport
Liban Abdi (Liibaan Cabdi)
Liban Abdi Ali (born 5 October 1988) is a footballer from Burao who plays as a left winger. He grew up in Oslo, moved to England at 14 and became the first Somali to get a professional contract at Sheffield United. He went on to play for Ferencváros in Hungary, Olhanense in Portugal and FK Haugesund in Norway.
Liban AbdiLiibaan Cabdi · Liban Abdi Ali
- Lived
- 1988-10-05 to today
- Known as one of
- Sport
- Places
- Burco and Togdheer
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 1 sources
Who is he?
Liban Abdi Ali is a footballer who plays as a left winger (Wikipedia, Liban Abdi). He has played in England, Hungary, Portugal and Norway (same source). See sport in Somalia.
Early life
He was born in Burao in 1988 (Wikipedia). He grew up mostly in Oslo, in the eastern borough of Stovner, and holds Norwegian citizenship (same source). At 14 he moved with his family to England (same source). See Somalis in Norway.
Sheffield United
After spells at Newport Pagnell Town and Buckingham Town, he moved to Sheffield with help from the Football Unites, Racism Divides programme (Wikipedia). He joined Sheffield United's academy and was the first Somali to win a professional contract there (same source). He signed a two-year contract in 2008 and spent the next season on loan at Ferencváros, the club's Hungarian partner (same source). Sheffield United released him in July 2010 (same source). See Somalis in Sheffield.
Hungary, Portugal and Norway
He then joined Ferencváros permanently for two seasons (Wikipedia). In 2012 he moved to Olhanense in Portugal's Primeira Liga (same source). He later played for FK Haugesund in Norway (same source).
International football
He has not played for any national team (Wikipedia). He said he wanted to play for Norway, but in 2012 Norway's coach Egil Olsen said he was not good enough for the squad (same source). In September 2018 he said he would not play for Somalia, but would try to help the country off the pitch (same source).
In short
A Burao-born winger raised in Oslo who was Sheffield United's first Somali professional and played in Hungary and Portugal.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Liban Abdi · en.wikipedia.org
Liban AbdiLiibaan Cabdi · Liban Abdi Ali
- Lived
- 1988-10-05 to today
- Known as one of
- Sport
- Places
- Burco and Togdheer
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 1 sources
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