Dia Saba (sometimes Sabi'a or Seba,[2][3][4] Arabic: ضياء سبع, Hebrew: דיא סבע; born 18 November 1992) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for UAE Pro League club Emirates Club.
 Saba playing for Maccabi Netanya in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 November 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Majd al-Krum, Israel | ||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Maccabi Haifa | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Hapoel Haifa | |||
| Beitar Nes Tubruk | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2011 | Beitar Nes Tubruk[1] | 2 | (1) |
| 2011–2013 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | → Hapoel Be'er Sheva (loan) | 30 | (3) |
| 2013 | → Bnei Sakhnin (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 29 | (3) |
| 2014–2018 | Maccabi Netanya | 100 | (45) |
| 2018–2019 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 16 | (4) |
| 2019–2020 | Guangzhou R&F | 36 | (18) |
| 2020–2022 | Al-Nasr | 49 | (17) |
| 2022–2023 | Sivasspor | 13 | (5) |
| 2023– | Maccabi Haifa | 19 | (8) |
| 2024 | → Emirates Club (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 2011 | Israel U19 | 4 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Israel U21 | 9 | (2) |
| 2018–2020 | Israel | 11 | (3) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 September 2023 | |||
Early life
editSaba was born in Majd al-Krum, Israel, to a Muslim-Arab family.[5][6] He is a cousin of former footballer Ahmad Saba'a.[7]
Career
editSaba began his career with the youth selections of Hapoel Haifa, and later moved to Beitar Nes Tubruk. In summer 2011, Saba joined Maccabi Tel Aviv and played under manager Motti Ivanir. However, he made only two appearances over four months, and in January 2012 was subsequently loaned to Hapoel Be'er Sheva until the end of the season. On 21 January 2012, Saba made his debut for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and scored twice in a 2–0 victory over Hapoel Haifa, helping the club to stay in the league. He was then again loaned for half the season. In February 2013 he moved to Bnei Sakhnin, playing ten league matches and failing to score. Before the 2013–14 season, Saba signed with Maccabi Petah Tikva. The following season he signed a two-year contract with Maccabi Netanya. He played with Netanya for four years, scoring 51 goals in 114 appearances in all club competitions, including 24 league goals in the 2017–18 season.[8]
On 17 September 2018, Saba returned to Be'er Sheva as Hapoel paid Maccabi Netanya a record transfer fee of €2 million.[9] He signed a four-year contract with Be'er Sheva worth €1.6 million.[10] He made his debut at home against Bnei Yehuda, in a goalless game. Saba scored his first goal for Be'er Sheva on 6 October 2018, in a 4–1 win over Maccabi Petah Tikva.
In January 2019, he moved to Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F, linking up with fellow Israel national team striker Eran Zahavi.[11]
In September 2020, Saba joined Al-Nasr, becoming the first Israeli to play in the United Arab Emirates following the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement.[12]
On 22 August 2022, Saba joined Turkish Süper Lig club Sivasspor.[13]
On 30 January 2023, Saba signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Maccabi Haifa.[14]
Career statistics
editClub
edit| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2011–12 | Israeli Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva (loan) | 2011–12 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 20 | 1 | |||
| Total | 30 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 | ||
| Bnei Sakhnin (loan) | 2012–13 | Israeli Premier League | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 2013–14 | 29 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 33 | 8 | ||
| Maccabi Netanya | 2014–15 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 31 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Liga Leumit | 32 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 36 | 17 | ||
| 2017–18 | Israeli Premier League | 34 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 26 | |
| 2018–19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | ||
| Total | 100 | 45 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 114 | 51 | ||
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 2018–19 | Israeli Premier League | 16 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 5 | |
| Guangzhou R&F | 2019 | Chinese Super League | 26 | 13 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 13 | ||
| 2020 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 36 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 18 | ||
| Al-Nasr | 2020–21 | UAE Pro League | 24 | 6 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 29 | 7 | ||
| 2021–22 | 25 | 11 | — | 4 | 2 | — | 29 | 13 | ||||
| Total | 49 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 20 | ||
| Sivasspor | 2022–23 | Süper Lig | 13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | 20 | 6 | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 2022–23 | Israeli Premier League | 16 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 7 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 4 | |||
| Career total | 304 | 103 | 17 | 9 | 27 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 364 | 124 | ||
International
edit- Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Saba goal.[15]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 October 2018 | Turner Stadium, Be'er Sheva, Israel |  Albania |
2–0 | 2–0 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C |
| 2 | 15 November 2018 | Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel |  Guatemala |
5–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 6–0 |
Honours
editMaccabi Netanya
Maccabi Haifa
Individual
References
edit- ^ "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ "Dia Sabia | Football Stats | Hapoel Beer Sheva | Age 27 | Soccer Base". soccerbase.com.
- ^ "Know your Opponent: Maccabi Netanya". 18 September 2017.
- ^ "Dia Seba – Israel". UEFA. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
- ^ Yokhin, Michael (4 April 2018). "Meet Bibars Natcho, the Muslim CSKA Moscow midfielder that became Israel's first ever non-Jewish captain". The Independent. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
- ^ Boehm, Charles (26 February 2018). "Report: Minnesota 1 of 2 MLS teams eyeing Israeli league star Dia Saba". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
- ^ Mendel, Jack (15 October 2018). "Give football a chance to break the cycle of violence". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
- ^ a b "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ "המושיע האחרון? דיא סבע חתם בהפועל ב"ש". israelhayom.co.il (in Hebrew). 17 September 2018.
- ^ "הפועל באר שבע רכשה את דיא סבע תמורת 2.2 מיליון יורו: "מרגיש כבר את הטירוף בעיר" - וואלה! ספורט". sports.walla.co.il. 17 September 2018.
- ^ "公告 | 以色列金靴萨巴加盟广州富力". Guangzhou R&F F.C. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ "Guangzhou R&F's Dia Saba to become first Israeli player in UAE after peace deal". Xinhuanet. 25 September 2020.
- ^ "Dia Saba resmen Sivasspor'da". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "ברוך הבא סבע!" (in Hebrew). Maccabi Haifa F.C. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ a b Dia Saba at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ Dia Saba at Soccerway
- ^ "דיא סבע נבחר לשחקן העונה של ליגת העל". One (in Hebrew). Retrieved 13 January 2020.
External links
edit- Dia Saba – Israel Football Association league player details
