Pilar Khoury

Pilar Tony Khoury (Arabic: بيلار توني خوري; born 25 August 1994) is a footballer who plays as a forward for French Division 2 Féminine club Strasbourg and the Lebanon national team.

In this Lebanese name, the father's name is Tony and the family name is Khoury.
Pilar Khoury
Khoury with Saint-Étienne in 2020
Personal information
Full name Pilar Tony Khoury[1]
Date of birth (1994-08-25) 25 August 1994
Place of birth Ottawa, Ontario, Canada[1]
Height 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Strasbourg
Number 7
Youth career
2004–2011 Ottawa Gloucester Hornets
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2016 Ottawa Gee-Gees (58)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Albi 31 (3)
2018–2019 Grenoble 22 (11)
2019–2021 Saint-Étienne 17 (10)
2021–2023 Nantes 38 (11)
2023– Strasbourg 0 (0)
International career‡
2021– Lebanon 7 (3)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  Lebanon
WAFF Women's Championship
Silver medal – second place2022
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 May 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 April 2023

Khoury played at the college level for the Ottawa Gee-Gees, the University of Ottawa's team; she left in 2016 as their all-time goal scorer with 58 goals. Khoury moved to France the same year, where she joined Albi in the Division 1 Féminine; she then played for Division 2 sides Grenoble, Saint-Étienne, Nantes and Strasbourg.

Born in Canada, Khoury is of Lebanese descent and has represented Lebanon internationally since 2021. She helped Lebanon finish runners-up at the 2022 WAFF Women's Championship, in which she scored her first international goal.

Early life

Khoury was born in Canada to Lebanese parents.[3] She noted that she was surrounded by Lebanese people and culture growing up, due to the large presence of Lebanese diaspora in her area.[3]

Club career

Youth and college

At 10 years old, Khoury began her youth career at local club Ottawa Gloucester Hornets, where she remained for seven years.[4] She began as a defender, before being moved up to forward in her last year at the club.[4]

Khoury then moved to the University of Ottawa's team, the Ottawa Gee-Gees.[4] She made her breakthrough in her third season at the club, breaking the university’s scoring record twice and winning multiple individual titles.[4] Khoury finished her career with the Ottawa Gee-Gees as their all-time leading goal scorer, with 58 goals.[5]

Albi

Khoury began her senior career in 2016, moving to Division 1 Féminine side Albi in France on 1 August.[6] After being a reserve for the first half of the 2016–17 season, she became a regular in the second half and helped her side avoid relegation.[4] Her second season saw Khoury miss multiple matches due to injuries, and the club was relegated to the Division 2 Féminine.[4]

Grenoble

She moved to Grenoble for the 2018–19 season in the Division 2.[4] After a slow start, scoring once in the first half of the season, Khoury scored 10 goals in her next 10 games.[4] She also scored three goals in four Coupe de France féminine games.[7]

Saint-Étienne

In 2019, Khoury joined Division 2 runners-up Saint-Étienne where, in the 2019–20 season, she scored six league goals in 11 matches.[7] She also scored a goal in her only Coupe de France appearance.[7] In 2020–21, Khoury scored four goals in four games,[7] before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.[8] She finished with 11 goals in 18 games in all competitions.[7]

Nantes

On 27 July 2021, Khoury moved to Nantes.[9] She made her debut on 5 September, in a 3–0 win against Lens.[10] On 10 October, Khoury scored her first goal for Nantes, helping her team win 3–0 against Orléans.[11] She ended the 2021–22 season with six goals in 20 league games,[7] missing out on Division 1 promotion by one point.[12] Khoury also scored one goal in five Coupe de France games,[7] helping her side reach the semi-finals.[12]

Strasbourg

On 28 July 2023, fellow Division 2 team Strasbourg announced the signing of Khoury.[13]

International career

Born in Canada, Khoury is of Lebanese descent.[4] She has stated her preference to play for Lebanon over Canada, saying that she dreamed of representing Lebanon from a young age.[4]

Khoury was first called up for Lebanon in April 2021, ahead of a friendly tournament in Armenia.[14] Regarding her first call-up, she stated: "I have difficulty expressing how much it means to me. To represent my parents' country after all the sacrifices they made for my soccer career".[14] However, due to resulting positive to COVID-19, she was unable to travel.[3]

She made her debut on 21 October, helping Lebanon beat the United Arab Emirates 1–0 in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification.[2] Khoury was called up to represent Lebanon at the 2022 WAFF Women's Championship;[15] she helped her side finish runners-up, scoring her first international goal against Syria on 4 September.[16]

Style of play

Initially a striker, Khoury developed into a winger during her stay at Nantes.[3] She is capable of playing in all attacking positions.[13]

Personal life

Khoury's maternal grandfather, Louis Saad, was also a footballer;[4] he died in 2013.[14] Khoury stated that he taught her how to play football.[14] A few days prior to dying, her grandfather passed his French citizenship onto her, which facilitated her move to play professionally in France three years later.[3]

While playing for the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Khoury completed a bachelor’s degree in health sciences with a minor in psychology.[4] Khoury was also a student during her time at Albi.[4]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 28 May 2023[7]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Coupe de France Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Albi 2016–17 Division 1 15210162
2017–18 Division 1 16111172
Total 31321334
Grenoble 2018–19 Division 2 2211422613
Saint-Étienne 2019–20 Division 2 13611147
2020–21 Division 2 440044
Total 1710111811
Nantes 2021–22 Division 2 20651257
2022–23 Division 2 18532217
Total 3811834614
Career total 1083515712342

    International
    As of match played 8 April 2023[2][1]
    Appearances and goals by national team and year
    National teamYearAppsGoals
    Lebanon 202110
    202221
    202342
    Total73
    Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Khoury goal.
    List of international goals scored by Pilar Khoury
    No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
    1 4 September 2022 Petra Stadium, Amman, Jordan  Syria 5–0 5–2 2022 WAFF Championship
    2 5 April 2023 Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon  Chinese Taipei 1–0 1–5 2024 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament
    3 8 April 2023 Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon  Indonesia 2–0 5–0 2024 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament

    Honours

    Lebanon

    Individual[17]

    • OUA Player of the Year: 2014–15, 2015–16
    • OUA First Team All-Star: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
    • U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian: 2014–15, 2015–16

    Records

    See also

    References
    1. "Pilar Khoury". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
    2. "Pilar Khoury". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
    3. "Interview with Pilar Khoury". FA Lebanon. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021 – via YouTube.
    4. Baradhi, Maria (14 November 2020). "A.S. Saint Etienne's Pilar Khoury: A National Team Prospect". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
    5. "uOttawa Gee-Gees Records". Ottawa Gee-Gees. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
    6. Sangaré-Ponce, Moussa (27 June 2016). "Gee-Gees superstar to continue her career in France". Ottawa Gee-Gees. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
    7. "Pilar Khoury". Footofeminin.fr. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
    8. Sabathier, Romane (25 April 2021). "Annulation du championnat de D2 Féminine : décision difficile à encaisser pour les joueuses de l'US Orléans" [Cancellation of the Women's D2 Championship: a difficult decision to take for the players of US Orléans]. France 3 Centre (in French). Retrieved 29 July 2021.
    9. Duret, Sebastien (9 September 2021). "#D1Arkema – Le tableau du mercato estival : le point" [#D1Arkema – The summer transfer window table: the point]. Footofeminin.fr (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2022.
    10. "Championnat de France de D2 2021–2022 – Groupe A – 1re journée – Nantes–Lens 3–0". Footofeminin.fr (in French). 5 September 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
    11. "Championnat de France de D2 2021–2022 – Groupe A – 5e journée – Nantes–Orléans 3–0". Footofeminin.fr (in French). 10 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
    12. Soulard, Sebastien (22 May 2022). "FC Nantes. D2F : un épilogue douloureux pour les Nantaises" [FC Nantes. D2F: a painful epilogue for Nantes residents]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2022.
    13. "Pilar Khoury et Julie Genty rejoignent le Racing" [Pilar Khoury and Julie Genty join Racing]. Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (in French). 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
    14. Jobin, Jonathan (31 March 2021). "Une première chance en équipe nationale du Liban pour Pilar Khoury" [A first chance in the Lebanon national team for Pilar Khoury]. Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
    15. وصول سيدات الأرز الى الأردن للمشاركة في بطولة غرب آسيا [The arrival of the Lady Cedars to Jordan to participate in the WAFF Championship]. Lebanese Football Association (in Arabic). 27 August 2022. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
    16. الأردن يتوج ببطولة السيدات السابعة.. ويضيف اللقب الخامس إلى سجله [Jordan win the seventh women's championship.. and add a fifth title to their record]. West Asian Football Federation (in Arabic). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
    17. "Pilar Khoury". Ottawa Gee-Gees. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
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