Jiloan Hamad

Jiloan Hamad (born 6 November 1990) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a winger for 1899 Hoffenheim, and the Sweden national team.

Hamad was born in Azerbaijan, and is of Kurdish descent. His family originates from Ranya, Iraqi Kurdistan.

Club career

Malmö FF

Hamad came to Malmö FF from BK Forward in December 2007. He made his Allsvenskan debut on 17 September 2008 in a 0–4-loss against IF Elfsborg. After only having played one match for the club in 2008, Hamad had a breakthrough in 2009 when he played 20 matches and scored two goals. In 2010, he battled with teammate Jimmy Durmaz for the position as left midfielder. Hamad ended up playing 27 games although only starting in 10, the majority of which were played as right midfielder. In the final game of 2010, he scored the game-winning goal against Mjällby AIF that secured the title, the day after his 20th birthday.

In 2011, Hamad started the season with injury problems and missed the start of the season. He recovered and became the natural choice for playing right midfielder after team-mate Guillermo Molins was sold in the summer transfer window of 2011. Hamad also participated in the clubs campaign to qualify for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League and scored the goal that took the club through to the play-off round after equalizing at home against Rangers. He continued to play in Europe as the club qualified for the group stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League after losing in the play-off round of the Champions League. During the 2011 season Hamad signed a new contract to the end of the 2013 season.

Hamad played all of Malmö FF's 30 league matches during the 2012 season. He also scored six goals which was his best goal production since joining the club. Hamad was also given the captaincy for the majority of the teams matches. Former captain Daniel Andersson had stepped down to focus on coaching duties before the beginning of the season and new captain Ulrich Vinzents received limited time on the pitch.

The 2013 season was Hamad's first and only season as full-time captain for the club. In total he played 28 matches and scored eight goals in the league. He also played all matches for the club during the qualification stage for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League and scored two goals. Some of his goals in the early part of the season was match-deciding, on 14 April 2013 he scored the only goal of the game in the home fixture against Kalmar FF, one week later he made the same accomplishment in the away fixture against AIK. Malmö FF secured the title one round before the competition of the league and Hamad could raise Lennart Johanssons Pokal on 3 November 2013 after a last home win against Syrianska FC. His last match for the club was the 2013 Svenska Supercupen against IFK Göteborg which Malmö FF won 3–2. For his performances in the 2013 Allsvenskan season he won midfielder of the year and was also nominated for most valuable player of the year.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

On 30 October 2013, German Bundesliga club 1899 Hoffenheim confirmed the free transfer of Jiloan Hamad to the club with a contract until 2017. The transfer went through on 1 January 2014 when the German transfer window opened.

Standard Liège

In late January 2015, he was loaned to Belgian first tier side Standard Liège for the remainder of the 2014–2015 season.

Sweden U21

Hamad was a member and also for some time the captain of the Sweden U21 national side. On 7 September 2010, Hamad scored a last-minute goal for the 1–0 away win against Bulgaria U21 in a 2011 UEFA Euro U-21 Championship qualifier. In early 2011, Hamad revealed for Swedish website Svenska Fans that he had rejected an offer from Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts to play for his country of birth.

Sweden

Hamad was first with the Sweden squad for the 2011 January training tour and played his first cap for Sweden during this tour. His first cap for Sweden was against Botswana on 19 January 2011. Hamad was once again selected for the annual training camp for the Sweden national team in January 2012. The squad selection for the camp traditionally features the best Swedish players in domestic and other Scandinavian leagues. He was selected for the friendly against England on 14 November, but did not get any playing time, and was then again selected for the winter tour in 2013.

Club

As of 1 February 2014

International

As of 26 January 2013

Club

Malmö FF

• Allsvenskan: 2010, 2013
• Svenska Supercupen: 2013

Individual

• Allsvenskan midfielder of the year: 2013