Alexander Michel Melki

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In this Lebanese name, the father's name is Robert and the family name is Melki.
Alexander Michel Melki
Alexander Michel Melki 20191201 (cropped).jpg
Michel Melki with Lebanon at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
Personal information
Full name Robert Alexander Robert Melki[1]
Birth name Alexander Michel
Date of birth (1992-11-14) 14 November 1992 (age 29)
Place of birth  [sv], Södertälje, Sweden[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, right-back
Club information
Current team
 Al-Shahania
Number 22
Youth career
Syrianska FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2017 Syrianska FC 99 (3)
2017–2018 AFC Eskilstuna 52 (0)
2019–2021 Al-Khor 34 (0)
2021– Al-Shahania 10 (0)
National team‡
2011 Sweden U19 1 (0)
2013 Sweden U21 4 (0)
2018– Lebanon 22 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:53, 28 November 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:31, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

Robert Alexander Robert Melki[note 1] (Arabic: روبير الكساندر روبير ملكي, Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: [ˈroːbert ʔalekˈsander ˈmelki, -ke]; born 14 November 1992), known as Alexander Michel Melki,[note 2] is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Qatari club Al-Shahania and the Lebanon national team.[3] A center-back at the club level, Michel Melki is mainly deployed as a right-back at the international level.[4]

Swedish by birth, Michel Melki represented them at youth level before also acquiring Lebanese nationality through his grandfather on his father's side.[5] He decided to switch allegiance to Lebanon and made his senior international debut in 2018. After following his father's tracks playing at Syrianska for six years, Michel Melki moved to AFC Eskilstuna in 2017, helping them gain promotion back to the Allsvenskan the following season. In 2019, he moved to Qatari side Al-Khor, before joining Al-Shahania in 2021.

Born in Sweden, Michel Melki represented his native country at youth levels before switching allegiance to Lebanon in 2018. He took part in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Lebanon's first participation in 19 years.

Early life[]

Alexander was born and raised in Sweden, but has also acquired Lebanese nationality due to his Assyrian origins, making him eligible for the Lebanese national team.[6] He has a younger brother, Felix, who also plays football.[7] Felix stated in an interview with TRT World that his grandfather was Lebanese, and that two of his father's sisters were born in Lebanon.[5]

While his mother is Swedish, his father, Robert Michel, is of Syriac descent. He was a Syrianska player when the team was still in the lower divisions of Swedish football.[8] It is based in Södertälje and is supported by Syriacs worldwide.[9]

Club career[]

Syrianska[]

Alexander Michel with Syrianska in 2013

Alexander Michel started his career at Syrianska. His personal debut in the first team and in the Allsvenskan took place on 20 June 2011 at the age of 18, with his team being defeated 3–0 against Djurgården.[10] During that season he made a total of 10 league appearances. In 2012 he found further space, with 23 appearances of which 18 as a starter.

Exactly two years after his debut in the Swedish championship, on 20 June 2013 Michel seriously damaged the cruciate ligament of his left knee during a home match against Malmö FF.[11] The injury forced him to stay out of action for a year, with his next official match being played on 25 June 2014 in the Superettan.

Having recovered from the injury, in July 2015 Michel broke the same cruciate ligament damaged two years earlier forcing him to finish the season in advance.[12] His last year at Syrianska was in 2016, with 25 league appearances in the league.

AFC Eskilstuna[]

After the expiration of his contract with Syrianska,[13] Michel carried out trials with Hammarby and Djurgården in January 2017.[14] A few weeks later, he signed a two-year contract with Allsveskan side AFC Eskilstuna.[15][16]

In his first season in the club, Alexander played 23 games in the Allsvenskan coming last in the league.[3] The following season, relegated to the Superettan, he played 29 league games as well as both play-off games to promote his team back to the first division.[3][17][18]

Al-Khor[]

On 23 January 2019, during the winter transfer window, Al Kass Sports Channels officially announced the signing of Alexander Michel Melki to Qatar Stars League side Al-Khor SC till the end of the season.[19][20] In his first season, in 2018–19, Michel Melki played seven league games,[21] and helped his side avoid relegation by finishing 10th in the league.[22]

During the 2019–20 season, Michel Melki played 20 of the 22 regular season games as a starter, missing two games due to injury, and provided two assists.[23] As Al-Khor finished in 11th place, they played the relegation play-off game against Qatari Second Division side Al-Markhiya.[24] They won the encounter 2–0 after extra time, and avoided relegation once again.[25]

Michel Melki finished runner-up with Al-Khor in the 2020–21 Qatar Stars Cup, featuring in the final against eventual winners Al-Rayyan.[26] After playing seven games during the season, his contract was terminated on 20 February 2021.[27]

Al-Shahania[]

Michel Melki joined Qatari Second Division side Al-Shahania,[28][29] making his debut in the on 27 February 2021, in a 2–0 win against Muaither.[30] After playing five games in the regular season,[31] helping his side finish in second place, Michel Melki played against his former side Al-Khor in the promotion play-offs, losing 3–1 and remaining in the Second Division.[32]

International career[]

Michel Melki with Lebanon against North Korea in 2019

After playing for the U19 and U21 sides of Sweden, in 2018 Michel Melki received a call-up for Lebanon due to his origins.[6] His international debut came in November against Uzbekistan, with the match ending in a goalless draw as he played the whole 90 minutes.[33] He would be called up for the 2019 Asian Cup, alongside his brother Felix, one month later.[2]

On his 27th birthday, on 14 November 2019, Michel Melki played the whole 90 minutes in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against South Korea.[34] Lebanon held on to a 0–0 draw, with Michel Melki neutralizing Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min;[35] he was widely regarded as the Man of the Match by Lebanese fans.[36]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 4 May 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Syrianska 2011 Allsvenskan 10 0 — — — 10 0
2012 Allsvenskan 23 1 3 0 — — 26 1
2013 Allsvenskan 12 2 — — — 12 2
2014 Superettan 14 0 2 0 — — 16 0
2015 Superettan 14 0 — — — 14 0
2016 Superettan 25 0 0 0 — 2[c] 0 27 0
Total 98 3 5 0 0 0 2 0 105 3
AFC Eskilstuna 2017 Allsvenskan 23 0 — — — 23 0
2018 Superettan 29 0 1 1 — 2[d] 0 32 1
Total 49 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 55 1
Al-Khor 2018–19 Qatar Stars League 7 0 — — — 7 0
2019–20 Qatar Stars League 20 0 — 2 0 1[e] 0 23 0
2020–21 Qatar Stars League 7 0 — 3 0 — 10 0
Total 34 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 40 0
Al-Shahania Qatari Second Division 5 0 — — 2[f] 0 7 0
Career total 186 3 6 1 5 0 7 0 204 4
  1. ^ Includes Svenska Cupen and Emir of Qatar Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Qatari Stars Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in Superettan relegation play-outs
  4. ^ Appearances in Allsvenskan promotion play-offs
  5. ^ Appearance in Qatar Stars League relegation play-outs
  6. ^ One appearance in Qatar FA Cup, one appearance in Qatari Second Division promotion play-offs

International[]

As of match played 7 December 2021[37]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Lebanon 2018 2 0
2019 8 0
2020 1 0
2021 11 0
Total 22 0

Honours[]

Al-Khor

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ In Sweden, his full name is Alexander Michel.
  2. ^ Known as Alexander Michel in Sweden, or Robert Melki (Arabic: روبير ملكي) in Arabic.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Alexander Michel Melki". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "AC2019 Final Squads". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Alexander Michel Melki". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. ^ "The final 23: who are they?". Lebanese Football Review. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  5. ^ a b "How diaspora footballers came together under the Lebanese flag". TRT World. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b "The Lebanon squad to face Uzbekistan and Australia has been named". YOUR HOME OF NEWS. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  7. ^ "AFC Asian Cup 2019: Brothers competing in the continental tournament". FOX Sports Asia. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Alexander Michel är redo för nästa steg | Matchdax". matchdax.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  9. ^ "The strangest football derby in the world - The National Newspaper". 25 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Allsvenskan SvFF - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Alexander Michel knä- skadad: "Är inte bra" | Allsvenskan | Expressen". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Tunga beskedet för Syrianska - nyckelspelare borta året ut". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  13. ^ "Framtiden oklar för Alex Michel – hoppas på flytt i vinter: "Behöver en liten nytändning"". lt.se (in Swedish). 25 December 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Efter Hammarby-test - nu tränar Michel med Djurgården -FotbollDirekt". www.fotbolldirekt.se. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  15. ^ "AFC Eskilstuna värvar Alexander Michel". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Fotbolltransfers.com - Officiellt: Alexander Michel klar för AFC Eskilstuna". fotbolltransfers.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Athletic Eskilstuna v IF Brommapojkarna". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  18. ^ "IF Brommapojkarna v Athletic Eskilstuna". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  19. ^ الكاس, قنوات (23 January 2019). "خاص للكاس: المدافع اللبناني روبرت ميشيل ميلكي وقع رسميا لنادي #الخور حتى نهاية الموسمpic.twitter.com/zBmCmSixZD". @alkasschannel (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  20. ^ Lebanon, Football. "روبرت ملكي رسميا الى الخور القطري". football-lebanon.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  21. ^ "Lebanon - Alexander Michel - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Summary - Stars League - Qatar - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Lebanese Players Abroad: August 2020, Week 4". FA Lebanon. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Summary - Stars League - Qatar - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Summary - Play-offs 1/2 - Qatar - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  26. ^ Mahfoud, Maroun (23 November 2020). "Lebanese Players Abroad: November 2020, week 4". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  27. ^ "الخور يفسخ عقد ملكي". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  28. ^ "ملكي قريب من الشحانية". كووورة. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  29. ^ Abou Diab, Rami (28 February 2021). "Alex Melki stays in Qatar". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  30. ^ Mahfoud, Maroun (1 March 2021). "Lebanese Players Abroad: February 2021, Week 4". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  31. ^ "Alexander Michel Melki". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  32. ^ Abou Diab, Rami (10 May 2021). "Lebanese Players Abroad: May 2021, Week 1". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  33. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Uzbekistan vs. Lebanon (0:0)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  34. ^ "MD5 - Group H: Lebanon 0-0 Korea Republic". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  35. ^ Rigga, Skonto (14 November 2019). "Mane carries strong FPL form onto the international stage". Fantasy Football Scout. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  36. ^ Labellarte, Giuseppe (14 November 2019). "Tottenham Hotspur ace Son Heung-min mocked by Lebanon fans after South Korea stalemate". HITC. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  37. ^ "Alexander Michel Melki". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 7 December 2021.

External links[]

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