Nayim

Nayim
Personal information
Full name Mohammed Alí Amar
Date of birth (1966-11-05) 5 November 1966
Place of birth Ceuta, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
Ceuta
1979–1985 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1987 Barcelona B 46 (7)
1987–1988 Barcelona 7 (0)
1988–1993 Tottenham Hotspur 144 (18)
1993–1997 Zaragoza 123 (5)
1997–2000 Logroñés 67 (5)
Total 387 (35)
National team
1984–1985 Spain U18 4 (0)
1985 Spain U19 1 (0)
1985 Spain U20 4 (0)
1987 Spain U21 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Mohammed Alí Amar (born 5 November 1966), known as Nayim, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central midfielder.

He scored a last-minute goal for Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Arsenal,[1] with a 40-yard lob in the final minute of extra time. Over the course of eight seasons in La Liga, he played 130 games and scored five goals.

Having started his professional career with Barcelona, Nayim also represented Tottenham for five years.

Club career

Barcelona / Tottenham

At the age of 12, Nayim left his hometown of Ceuta and joined FC Barcelona's youth academy La Masia,[2] as the main squad was managed by Terry Venables, but had very few first-team opportunities over the course of two seasons. He arrived at Tottenham Hotspur in November 1988 originally on loan (11 league appearances during the 1988–89 campaign, scoring twice), signing the following year for £400,000; his first goal for the club came in a 2–0 win at Southampton, and he also found the net in Spurs' 3–0 home success over West Ham United.

In 1989–90 Nayim made a total of 23 appearances, helping Tottenham to a third-place finish. The League Cup offered him his first experience of English cup competition, playing in four games en route to the quarter-finals and scoring three goals.

The following season proved to be Nayim's most successful campaign in English football. Although Spurs finished in only 11th, he appeared in 33 league matches and netted five times; his path to a Wembley final was again halted at the League Cup semi-final but, in the FA Cup, Tottenham overcame Nottingham Forest 2–1 in the final, with Nayim replacing injured Paul Gascoigne early in the game and setting up both of his team's goals to bring success to White Hart Lane.

In 1991–92 Nayim appeared in 31 league contests, adding six appearances in the League Cup campaign, including both legs of the semi-final loss to Nottingham Forest. The following season he won the Goal of the Month competition for October, with a volley against Liverpool; later in the season he scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City, helping his team to a 4–2 win.

Zaragoza / Later years

In May 1993, after 144 appearances and 18 goals for Tottenham, Nayim signed for Real Zaragoza for £500,000. His most notable moment in football came in the final seconds of extra-time in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final by lobbing David Seaman from 45 yards to score a last-minute goal and win it 2–1 against Arsenal.[1]

Nayim retired in 2000, after a stint with Spanish second division side CD Logroñés. He took up coaching afterwards, managing Atlético Ceuta and serving as assistant to AD Ceuta;[2] in 2006 the Aragonese village of Trasmoz named a street 'Gol de Nayim' ('Nayim's Goal').

In late 2009 Nayim joined former Zaragoza teammate José Aurelio Gay's coaching staff, being named his assistant manager after Marcelino García Toral's sacking.

Honours

Club

Barcelona
Tottenham
Zaragoza

Country

Spain U20

References

  1. 1 2 "1994/95: Nayim's bolt from the blue sinks Arsenal". UEFA.com. 1 June 1995. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 Ortiz, Beatriz (6 February 2009). "Qué fue de Nayim... el héroe de la Recopa del Zaragoza" [What happened to Nayim...Zaragoza's Cup Winners' Cup hero] (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
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