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Liban Abdi
	Abdi with Ferencváros
Personal information
Full name	Liban Abdi Ali
Date of birth	5 October 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Burao, Somaliland
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Left winger
Youth career
	Vålerenga
	Skeid
2004–2007	Sheffield United
Senior career*
Years	Team
2007–2010	Sheffield United
2008–2010	→ Ferencváros (loan)
2008–2010	→ Ferencváros II (loan)
2010–2012	Ferencváros
2010–2012	Ferencváros II
2012–2013	Olhanense
2013–2014	Académica de Coimbra
2014–2015	Çaykur Rizespor
2015	→ Levski Sofia (loan)
2016–2017	Haugesund
2018	Al-Ettifaq
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:40, 23 June 2019 (UTC)

Liban Abdi Ali (Somali: Liibaan Cabdi; born 5 October 1988) is a Somali footballer who plays as a left winger. He previously played for Sheffield United in England, for Ferencváros in Hungary, for Olhanense in Portugal, and for FK Haugesund in his home country Norway.

Born in Somalia, Abdi grew up in Norway and holds Norwegian citizenship.^[1] He is eligible to play internationally for Somaliland, Somalia, and Norway.

Early life

Abdi was born in Burao, Somaliland, Somalia, in 1988. He spent most of his childhood in Oslo, Norway, where he attended both primary and secondary school. He lived in Stovner, an eastern borough in Oslo.

Career

Club career

Abdi moved to England with his family at the age of 14, and after a year in England he joined Sheffield United's youth academy.^[2] Abdi was the first Somali to be awarded a professional football contract at Sheffield United after impressing with the club's Academy. Following spells with Newport Pagnell Town and Buckingham Town,^[3] he was picked up by United when he subsequently moved to Sheffield with the assistance of the Football Unites, Racism Divides program.

Having signed a two-year contract in the summer of 2008, Abdi was loaned out to the Blades' sister club, Ferencváros, for the following season to gain first team experience.^[4] On his return, and after failing to break into the first team at Bramall Lane, he was released by Sheffield United in July 2010.^[5]

He then joined Ferencváros on a permanent basis, spending two seasons with the club, before moving to Portuguese Primeira Liga club Olhanense in the 2012 close season.

International career

Abdi is eligible to play for both Somaliland, Somalia, and Norway but has not represented any of them although he has stated that he wants to play for Norway.^[6] When Norway national team coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen announced his squad for the friendly match against Greece in August 2012, Drillo said that he had never seen Abdi in action despite the fact that he was playing in Portugal.^[1] Two months later Drillo stated that Abdi was not good enough for the Norwegian team, when announcing his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Cyprus.^[7] In September 2018 he stated that he would not play for Somalia, but would try and help the country off the pitch.^[3]

Career statistics

As of match played on 12 April 2018^[8]^[9]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sheffield United	2008–09	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2009–10	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ferencvárosi	2008–09^[a]^[10]^[11]	Nemzeti Bajnokság II	7	2	1	2	1	0	—		9	4
	2009–10^[a]^[10]^[11]	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	10	1	1	0	4	0	—		15	1
	2010–11^[10]^[11]	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	17	1	2	0	2	1	—		21	2
	2011–12^[10]^[11]	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	12	1	3	0	1	0	4^[b]	2	20	3
	Total		46	5	7	2	8	1	4	2	65	10
Ferencvárosi II	2009–10^[a]^[10]^[11]	Nemzeti Bajnokság III	5	0	—		—		—		5	0
	2010–11^[10]^[11]	Nemzeti Bajnokság II	7	2	—		—		—		7	2
	2011–12^[10]^[11]	Nemzeti Bajnokság II	7	5	—		—		—		7	5
	Total		19	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	7
Olhanense	2012–13	Primeira Liga	16	4	1	1	2	0	—		19	5
Académica de Coimbra	2013–14	Primeira Liga	11	0	0	0	—		—		11	0
Çaykur Rizespor	2013–14	Süper Lig	6	1	0	0	—		—		6	1
	2014–15	Süper Lig	7	0	6	0	—		—		13	0
	Total		13	1	6	0	0	0	0	0	19	1
Levski Sofia (loan)	2014–15	A Group	9	2	5	0	—		—		14	2
Haugesund	2016	Eliteserien	14	2	0	0	—		—		14	2
	2017	Eliteserien	24	5	1	0	—		4^[b]	2	29	7
	Total		38	7	1	0	0	0	4	2	43	9
Al-Ettifaq	2017–18	Saudi Professional League	12	2	1	0	—		—		13	2
Career totals			164	28	21	3	10	1	8	4	203	36

^ ^a ^b ^c On loan from Sheffield United
^ ^a ^b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

References

^ ^a ^b Farshchian, Aslân W.A. (31 August 2012). "Spiller fast i Portugal – ikke sett av Drillo" [Playing regularly in Portugal – Drillo hasn't watched him]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 October 2012.
^ Hjelvik, Eirik Nesset (14 July 2011). "Norges ukjente proff profil i ungarsk toppklubb". Sunnmørsposten. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b Lomas, Mark (11 September 2018). "Liban Abdi: "I'd rather help Somalia than play for them"". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
^ "Blades youngsters' switch". Sheffield United F.C. 24 June 2008. Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
^ "Transfers". Sheffield United F.C. 3 November 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
^ Farshchian, Aslân W.A. (2 September 2012). "Liban Abdi scoret mot Porto: – Min største kamp". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 October 2012.
^ Stormoen, Stein-Erik (2 October 2012). "Drillo om Portugal-Abdi: – Ikke god nok" [Drillo about Portugal-Abdi: – Not good enough]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 October 2012.
^ Liban Abdi at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
^ "Abdi Liban" (in Hungarian). HLSZ. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Magyarfutball.hu. "Abdi Liban (Burao 1988.10.05 - ) • Személyek • Magyarfutball.hu - a magyar labdarúgás adatbázisa". www.magyarfutball.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "ABDI LIBAN - FERENCVÁROSI TC - MLSZ adatbank". adatbank.mlsz.hu. Retrieved 6 November 2019.