Samir Ayass

Samir Ahmed Ayass (Arabic: سمير أحمد أياس, Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: [saˈmiːr ˈʔaħmad ʔajˈjæːs]; Bulgarian: Самир Ахмед Аяс; born 24 December 1990) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

In this Lebanese name, the father's name is Ahmed and the family name is Ayass.
Samir Ayass
Ayass with Lebanon at the 2019 Asian Cup
Personal information
Full name Samir Ahmed Ayass[1]
Date of birth (1990-12-24) 24 December 1990
Place of birth Sofia, Bulgaria[1]
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1996–2009 CSKA Sofia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 CSKA Sofia 0 (0)
2010 → Akademik Sofia (loan) 13 (1)
2010 Akademik Sofia 13 (0)
2011 Minyor Pernik 6 (0)
2011–2012 Bansko 21 (1)
2012 Montana 3 (0)
2013 Lyubimets 23 (4)
2014–2015 Beroe Stara Zagora 24 (4)
2015–2016 CSKA Sofia 33 (12)
2016–2017 Dunav Ruse 30 (4)
2017–2019 Ahed 32 (2)
2019 Dunav Ruse 15 (0)
2020 Persiraja 3 (0)
2021 Botev Vratsa 8 (0)
2021 Perak 3 (0)
Total 277 (28)
International career
2011–2012 Bulgaria U21 3 (0)
2017–2019 Lebanon 13 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Coming through the youth system, Ayass began his senior career in 2008 at hometown club CSKA Sofia, before moving to cross-city side Akademik Sofia in 2010. He then went on to play for various Bulgarian sides, namely Minyor Pernik, Bansko, Montana, Lyubimets, and Beroe Stara Zagora, before returning to CSKA Sofia in 2015, winning the Bulgarian Cup. The following year he joined Dunav Ruse, before moving to Lebanon in 2017 to Ahed. After having won multiple titles, including the 2019 AFC Cup, Ayass returned to Dunav Ruse in 2019, before moving to Persiraja in Indonesia the following year. He moved back to Bulgaria in 2021, at Botev Vratsa, and then joined Malaysian side Perak.

Born in Bulgaria, Ayass represented them at youth level before switching allegiance to Lebanon, for whom he made his senior international debut in 2017. He helped his team reach the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time through qualification, playing in the final tournament.

Early life

Samir Ayass was born in Sofia, Bulgaria to a Lebanese father and a Bulgarian mother.[3][4] He started his playing career at CSKA Sofia at the age of six.[5][6]

Club career

Dunav Ruse

On 6 October 2016, Ayass signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Dunav Ruse.[7] He scored his first goal for the team on 9 April 2017, in a 1–0 win over champions Ludogorets Razgrad.[8]

Ahed

On 4 August 2017, Ayass signed a two year contract with Lebanese Premier League champions Ahed for an undisclosed fee.[9] He returned to Dunav Ruse in Bulgaria on 11 July 2019.[10]

Persiraja

On 17 February 2020, Ayass moved to newly promoted Indonesian Liga 1 side Persiraja.[11][12] Following the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ayass was released.[13] He re-joined in March 2021 on trial ahead of the 2021 season.[14][15]

Botev Vratsa

On 3 April 2021, Ayass returned to Bulgaria, joining Botev Vratsa for the final part of the 2020–21 First Professional League.[16] He made his debut on 8 April, coming on as a substitute and winning a penalty for his team; they lost 2–1 to Botev Plovdiv.[17] Ayass helped Botev avoid relegation.[18]

Perak

On 19 June 2021, Ayass moved to Perak in the Malaysia Super League.[19] He left the club at the end of September after his contract expired.[20]

International career

Bulgaria

Ayass played for the Bulgarian under-21 team between 2011 and 2012, and was capped three times.[21] However, he was never called-up for the senior team.[21]

Lebanon

Eligible to represent Lebanon through his father,[22] on 20 March 2017 he accepted the call up for Lebanon for the match against Hong Kong on 28 March 2017, for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification.[23] He completed his debut, coming as a substitute on the 69th minute.[24]

On 10 October 2017, Ayass scored his first international goal for Lebanon against North Korea, in a 5–0 home win at the Asian Cup qualifications.[25] In December 2018, he was called up for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup squad,[2] featuring in two group stage games.[26]

Style of play

Ayass is a technical midfielder with good attacking capabilities.[27]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 12 September 2021[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Akademik Sofia (loan) 2009–10 Second League 131——131
Akademik Sofia 2010–11 First League 130——130
Total 2610000261
Minyor Pernik 2010–11 First League 60——60
Bansko 2011–12 Second League 211——211
Montana 2012–13 First League 30——30
Lyubimets 2012–13 Second League 112——112
2013–14 First League 12210—132
Total 2341000244
Beroe Stara Zagora 2013–14 First League 112——112
2014–15 First League 1323000162
Total 2443000274
CSKA Sofia 2015–16 Third League 291262—3514
2016–17 First League 40——40
Total 331262003914
Dunav Ruse 2016–17 First League 27420—294
2017–18 First League 30—2[lower-alpha 2]050
Total 3042020344
Ahed 2017–18 Premier League 161—7[lower-alpha 3]1232
2018–19 Premier League 161—6[lower-alpha 3]0221
Total 32200131453
Dunav Ruse 2019–20 First League 15010—160
Persiraja 2020 Liga 1 3 0——30
Botev Vratsa 2020–21 First League 8000—80
Perak 2021 Malaysia Super League 30——30
Career Total 1981613216122719
  1. Includes Bulgarian Cup, Lebanese FA Cup, Piala Indonesia
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League first qualifying round
  3. Appearances in AFC Cup

International
As of match played 10 October 2017
Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ayass goal.[28]
List of international goals scored by Samir Ayass
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
110 October 2017Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon North Korea3–05–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Honours

CSKA Sofia[21]

Ahed[21]

See also

References
  1. "Samir Ayass". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  2. "AC2019 Final Squads". Asian Football Confederation. p. 19. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  3. "Самир Аясс: Изпадане?! Целта ни е първата седмица" (in Bulgarian). www.novsport.com. 22 August 2013.
  4. "Betfair Казино Игри & 100 Безплатни Завъртания за 20£". 10 November 2021.
  5. "Самир Аясс: Изпадане?! Целта ни е първата седмица" (in Bulgarian). www.novsport.com. 22 August 2013.
  6. "Betfair Казино Игри & 100 Безплатни Завъртания за 20£". 10 November 2021.
  7. "Дунав привлече бивш играч на ЦСКА, взе бразилец на проби" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 6 October 2016.
  8. След 24 мача без загуба Лудогорец падна в Разград
  9. "Самир Аясс: Благодаря на ФК "Дунав", че ми даде шанс за развитие" (in Bulgarian). fcdunav.eu. 4 August 2017.
  10. "ФК Дунав Русе » "Драконите" се подсилиха с полузащитник" (in Bulgarian). 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  11. PERSIRAJA.ID. "Persiraja Resmi Kontrak Pemain Timnas Lebanon - Berita - Persiraja Official Website". PERSIRAJA.ID (in Indonesian). Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  12. Nehme, Ale (18 February 2020). "Lebanese abroad: winter transfer window summary". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  13. Mahfoud, Maroun (12 March 2021). "Samir Ayass returns to his old club". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  14. "Persiraja will be strengthened by three foreign players in the Menpora Cup". 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  15. Bola.com (3 April 2021). "3 Pemain Asing Persiraja Trial di Piala Menpora, Hendri Susilo Hanya Melirik Ousmane Fane". bola.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  16. "Самир Аяс се завръща от Индонезия, за да подсили Ботев Враца - Ботев Враца - Dsport.bg". dsport.bg. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  17. Abou Diab, Rami (13 April 2021). "Lebanese Players Abroad: April 2021, Week 2". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  18. Mahfoud, Maroun (31 May 2021). "Another Lebanese to join Perak". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  19. Mahfoud, Maroun (19 June 2021). "Samir Ayass joins another Lebanese player abroad". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  20. "Perak tamatkan kontrak empat pemain import". Berita Harian. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  21. Samir Ayass at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  22. "The final 23: who are they?". Lebanese Football Review. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  23. Две национални повиквателни в Русе
  24. Lebanon vs Hong Kong
  25. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Lebanon vs. North Korea (5:0)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  26. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Samir Ayass". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  27. "The final 23: who are they?". Lebanese Football Review. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  28. "Ayass, Samir". National Football Teams. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samir Ayass.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.