Dia Saba

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 Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa.

Dia Saba
Saba playing for Maccabi Netanya in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-11-18) 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 91
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 16 (6)
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 8 July 2023

Early life

Saba 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

Saba 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

Club
As of 8 July 2023[8][15][16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2011–12 Israeli Premier League 2000200040
Hapoel Be'er Sheva (loan) 2011–12 1532000—173
2012–13 1501041—201
Total 303304100374
Bnei Sakhnin (loan) 2012–13 Israeli Premier League 1002100—121
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2013–14 2934500—338
Maccabi Netanya 2014–15 2940020—314
2015–16 300000—30
2016–17 Liga Leumit 32171030—3617
2017–18 Israeli Premier League 34242121003826
2018–19 2000440064
Total 10045311150011451
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2018–19 Israeli Premier League 1642100—185
Guangzhou R&F 2019 Chinese Super League 261300——2613
2020 10510——115
Total 36181000003718
Al-Nasr 2020–21 UAE Pro League 246—51—297
2021–22 2511—42—2913
Total 49170093005820
Sivasspor 2022–23 Süper Lig 13510—61206
Maccabi Haifa 2022–23 Israeli Premier League 1661100—177
Career total 30110117926961350120

International
Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Saba goal.[15]
List of international goals scored by Dia Saba
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
114 October 2018Turner Stadium, Be'er Sheva, Israel Albania2–02–02018–19 UEFA Nations League C
215 November 2018Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel Guatemala5–07–0Friendly
36–0

Honours

Maccabi Netanya

Maccabi Haifa

Individual

  • Israel Football Players Organization's Player of the Season: 2017–18[17]
  • Israeli Premier League top scorer: 2017–18 (24 goals)

References
  1. "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  2. "Dia Sabia | Football Stats | Hapoel Beer Sheva | Age 27 | Soccer Base". soccerbase.com.
  3. "Know your Opponent: Maccabi Netanya". 18 September 2017.
  4. "Dia Seba – Israel". UEFA. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. Boehm, Charles (26 February 2018). "Report: Minnesota 1 of 2 MLS teams eyeing Israeli league star Dia Saba". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  7. Mendel, Jack (15 October 2018). "Give football a chance to break the cycle of violence". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  8. "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  9. "המושיע האחרון? דיא סבע חתם בהפועל ב"ש". israelhayom.co.il (in Hebrew). 17 September 2018.
  10. "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.
  11. "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.
  12. "Guangzhou R&F's Dia Saba to become first Israeli player in UAE after peace deal". Xinhuanet. 25 September 2020.
  13. "Dia Saba resmen Sivasspor'da". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  14. "ברוך הבא סבע!" (in Hebrew). Maccabi Haifa F.C. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  15. Dia Saba at National-Football-Teams.com
  16. Dia Saba at Soccerway
  17. "דיא סבע נבחר לשחקן העונה של ליגת העל". One (in Hebrew). Retrieved 13 January 2020.
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