Siad Haji

Siad Haji (born December 1, 1999) is a Somali professional footballer who plays as a winger for USL Championship club FC Tulsa. Born in Kenya and a former United States youth international, he plays for the Somalia national team.

Siad Haji
Personal information
Full name Abdulkadir Haji[1]
Date of birth (1999-12-01) December 1, 1999
Place of birth Kakuma, Kenya
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 FC Tulsa
Number 19
Youth career
0000–2016 New Hampshire Classics
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 New England Pilgrims 14 (9)
2017–2018 VCU Rams 35 (7)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Portland Timbers U23s 21 (5)
2019–2022 San Jose Earthquakes 14 (0)
2019–2020 → Reno 1868 (loan) 18 (1)
2022 San Jose Earthquakes II 7 (1)
2023– FC Tulsa 18 (0)
International career‡
2013–2014 United States U15
2014–2015 United States U17
2015–2016 United States U19
2022– Somalia 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 20, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of April 3, 2022

Early life

Haji was born in a Kenyan refugee camp, his parents having fled Somalia.[2] In 2004, they moved to New Hampshire.[2] Haji settled in a refugee community near downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, played youth soccer for the New Hampshire Classics, and was offered a spot on the New England Revolution youth academy's under-16 team. However, the distance and financial logistics made it difficult for him to accept a spot in the academy. He would continue to play for the Classics through high school.[3]

Career

Youth and college

Upon graduating, Haji did not have the eligibility to play in NCAA Division I, so he played for New England College in NCAA Division III during his first year.[3] With the Pilgrims, he scored nine times in fourteen appearances. Between Haji's first and second years, he transferred from New England College to Virginia Commonwealth University where he was a starting midfielder for the VCU Rams men's soccer team, and earned the Atlantic 10 Midfielder of the Year award in 2018.[4]

Professional

Haji played two seasons in USL League Two (then known as the Premier Development League) with the Portland Timbers U23s. He made 21 appearances over the two seasons, scoring five goals.[5]

On January 3, 2019, he signed a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer and was eligible for the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.[6] Haji, by many mock drafts, was considered a top five draft pick,[7][8][9] and some cases, the first overall draft pick.[10][11] He was ultimately drafted second overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft by the San Jose Earthquakes, the highest ever drafted alumnus from VCU.

Ahead of the 2019 USL Championship season, Haji went on loan to Reno 1868. He made his professional debut and his Reno debut on March 16, 2019, in a 2–1 win against Austin Bold, subbing on at halftime for Gilbert Fuentes.[12]

Haji was released by San Jose following the 2022 season.[13]

On January 19, 2023, he signed a contract with USL Championship side FC Tulsa.[14]

International

He played for various youth teams for the United States. In 2020, he was called up by the Somalia national team ahead of their first games at home in Mogadishu.[15]

In March 2022, he was called up to the Somalia national team.[16] Haji debuted with Somalia in a 3–0 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification loss to Eswatini on March 23, 2022.[17]

References
  1. "Haji fell through the cracks but rose to No. 2 in MLS draft". ESPN.com. January 11, 2019.
  2. "From Kenya to New Hampshire and now San Jose, Siad Haji's journey to MLS | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer.
  3. Davis, Noah (January 11, 2019). "How Siad Haji immigrated from Kenya, fell through U.S. Soccer's cracks and still rose to No. 2 in MLS SuperDraft". ESPN. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  4. "Loebe, Oland, Haji, Klein, and Giffard Win Top Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Awards". Atlantic 10 Conference. November 8, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  5. "PDL Player Statistics 2017". uslpdl.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  6. Sigal, Jonathan (January 3, 2019). "Siad Haji: From refugee to Generation adidas deal in MLS". New England Soccer Journal. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  7. Verschueren, Gianni (January 10, 2019). "2019 MLS Mock Draft: 1st-Round Predictions and Full Selection Order". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  8. Galarcep, Ives (January 10, 2019). "MLS SuperDraft: Goal's 2019 first-round mock draft". Goal. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  9. Catanese, Jake (January 8, 2019). "2019 MLS Mock Draft - Projecting Revolution's Two First Round Picks". SB Nation. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  10. Clark, Travis (January 4, 2019). "2019 MLS Mock Draft: Version 2.0". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  11. Doyle, Matthew (January 3, 2019). "Armchair Analyst: 2019 Mock Superdraft v1.0". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  12. "Reno 1868 FC vs Austin Bold FC: March 16, 2019 5:00 PM". USL Championship. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  13. "NEWS: Earthquakes Announce Roster Moves Ahead of 2023 MLS Season | San Jose Earthquakes". sjearthquakes.
  14. Galbreath, Noah. "FC Tulsa Inks No. 2 Overall Pick from 2019 MLS SuperDraft Siad Haji". FCTulsa.com. FC Tulsa. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  15. "Four more new professionals get call up for national team duty". Somali Football Federation. July 8, 2020.
  16. "NEWS: Four Earthquakes Players Called for International Duty | San Jose Earthquakes". sjearthquakes.
  17. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Somalia vs. Eswatini". www.national-football-teams.com.
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