Éamon Zayed facts for kids
Zayed with Persepolis in 2012
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Éamon Zayed | ||
| Date of birth | 4 October 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.88 m | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Northern Colorado Hailstorm (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2002 | Leicester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2006 | Bray Wanderers | 105 | (54) |
| 2004 | → Crewe Alexandra (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Aalesunds (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Drogheda United | 71 | (47) |
| 2008–2010 | Sporting Fingal | 39 | (21) |
| 2011 | Derry City | 36 | (22) |
| 2011–2013 | Persepolis | 15 | (7) |
| 2013 | Aluminium Hormozgan | 8 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Shamrock Rovers | 22 | (4) |
| 2014 | → Sligo Rovers (loan) | 11 | (5) |
| 2014–2015 | Sabah | 21 | (11) |
| 2016–2017 | Indy Eleven | 59 | (26) |
| 2018 | Charlotte Independence | 25 | (8) |
| 2019–2020 | Chattanooga Red Wolves | 19 | (6) |
| Total | 441 | (226) | |
| National team | |||
| 2003 | Republic of Ireland U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 2011–2015 | Libya | 8 | (1) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2021– | Northern Colorado Hailstorm | ||
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Éamon Zayed (Arabic: أیمن زايد; born October 4, 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently the head coach of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in USL League One. Born in the Republic of Ireland, he also played for the Libya national team as a player.
Zayed became famous on February 2, 2012, after scoring three goals (a hat-trick) in the last ten minutes of a big game called the Tehran derby. His team, Persepolis, was playing against Esteghlal. Persepolis was losing 2–0 and had one player sent off, meaning they were playing with only 10 men. But Zayed's amazing goals helped them win 3–2! This game is often called "10 minutes with 10 men" or "10–10–3" because of his incredible comeback.
Contents
Early Football Days
Éamon Zayed started playing football with local clubs like Broadford Rovers and St. Joseph's Boys AFC in Dublin. He was a talented player from a young age. He was chosen to play for the Leinster Schoolboys and Dublin teams at under-16 and under-17 levels.
He then moved to England to play for Leicester City. He played for their youth teams, including the U-18, U-19, and Reserve teams. After two years, he returned to Ireland in 2002.
Playing for Senior Clubs
Bray Wanderers
Zayed joined Bray Wanderers in Ireland. He quickly moved from the Under-21 team to the senior team. He made his first professional league appearance on October 18, 2002. In 2003, he scored the fastest hat-trick ever for Bray Wanderers, getting three goals in just nine minutes!
In 2004, he was named the PFAI Young Player of the Year. This award goes to the best young player in the league. He also scored four goals in one match against Athlone Town in October 2004, which was a first for a Bray player. He also had short loan spells with Crewe Alexandra in England and Aalesunds in Norway.
Drogheda United
In July 2006, Zayed joined Drogheda United. He scored a goal in his very first game for them. He also scored five goals in the Europa League, which is a big European competition.
Zayed was a very important player when Drogheda United won their first League of Ireland title in 2007. He was also the team's top scorer that season.
Sporting Fingal
After leaving Drogheda United, Zayed moved to Sporting Fingal in January 2009. He helped them win the FAI Cup in 2009, scoring two goals in the semi-final. He also scored two goals in Sporting Fingal's first-ever European game in July 2010.
Derry City
Zayed joined Derry City in January 2011. In his first season, he was the top scorer in the league with 23 goals. He also scored the winning goal in the League Cup final against Cork City.
Because of his great performance, Zayed was named the PFAI Players' Player of the Year. This award is voted on by other players in the league. By the end of 2012, he was one of the top goal scorers in the history of the League of Ireland.
Persepolis: Mr. Hat-trick
On December 23, 2011, Zayed signed a contract with Iran Pro League team, Persepolis. He quickly became a fan favorite.
On February 2, 2012, in his first game, he came on as a substitute in the famous Tehran derby. His team was down 2–0 and had only 10 players. Zayed scored three goals in the last 10 minutes, leading Persepolis to an amazing 3–2 victory! He was the first non-Iranian player to score a hat-trick in this big derby. After this game, he was even voted World Player of the Week by Goal.com.
He scored another hat-trick on March 21, 2012, in the AFC Champions League. This was the first time a Persepolis player scored three goals in that competition. He scored yet another hat-trick on May 6, 2012. Because of his many hat-tricks, Persepolis fans started calling him "Mr. hat-trick."
Other Clubs
After his time at Persepolis, Zayed played for several other clubs. He joined Aluminium Hormozgan in Iran in 2013.
He then returned to Ireland to play for Shamrock Rovers in July 2013. He also had a loan spell with Sligo Rovers in 2014.
In December 2014, Zayed moved to Malaysia to play for Sabah FA. He scored his first goal for them in February 2015.
In 2015, he signed with Indy Eleven in the USA. He scored two late goals in April 2016 to win a game against the New York Cosmos. In June, he scored another hat-trick, helping his team win the Spring season title.
He later played for Charlotte Independence in 2018 and Chattanooga Red Wolves SC from 2019 to 2020.
Playing for His Country
Republic of Ireland
Éamon Zayed could have played for Ireland, Tunisia (because of his father), or Libya (because of his grandparents). He chose to start his international career with Ireland.
He played for the Irish U-20 team in January 2003 and scored two goals against the United Arab Emirates. He also played for the U-21 team and in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. Even though Tunisia and Libya asked him to play for them, he wanted to play for Ireland's senior team.
Libya
Since he didn't get to play for Ireland's senior team, Zayed decided to play for Libya in October 2010. He was called up to the Libyan national team for an African Cup of Nations qualifier. He made his first appearance in a friendly game against Niger.
He also played in the 2011 Pan Arab Games. He scored his first goal for Libya on September 4, 2013, in a friendly match against Equatorial Guinea.
International goals
- Score and Result list Libya's goal tally first
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 September 2013 | Estadio de Malabo, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea |  Equatorial Guinea |
1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | Equatorial Guinea vs. Libya (1:1) |
Coaching Career
On August 11, 2021, Éamon Zayed became the very first head coach for Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. This team started playing in USL League One in 2022. He has a special coaching license called a UEFA "A" license.
Personal Life
Éamon's father is from Libya, and his mother is from Ireland. His younger brother also plays football.
Honours
Drogheda United
- League of Ireland: 2007
- Setanta Sports Cup: 2007
Sporting Fingal
- FAI Cup: 2009
Derry City
- League of Ireland Cup: 2011
Individual
- PFAI Players' Player of the Year: 2011
- PFAI Young Player of the Year: 2003
