Abdullah Abu Zema

Abdullah Mohammad Ali Abu Zema (Arabic: عبدالله محمد علي أبو زمع; born 4 April 1976) is a Jordanian professional football coach and former player.

Abdullah Abu Zema

Personal information
Full name	Abdullah Mohammad Ali Abu Zema[1]
Date of birth	(1976-04-04) 4 April 1976 (age 49)
Place of birth	Kuwait[1]
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Al-Wehdat
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–2005	Al-Wehdat
2000–2001	→ Al-Wakrah (loan)
International career
1996–2004	Jordan	82	(12)
Managerial career
2013–2015	Al-Wehdat
2016	Jordan (caretaker)
2017–2018	Kuwait SC
2018–2019	Al Ansar
2019–2021	Al-Wehdat
2022	Al Ansar
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Abu Zema officially announced his retirement in playing football on 25 January 2005,^[3] at the age of 29, after sustaining an injury.^[4] An international friendly match was played between his country Jordan and Armenia on 1 August 2005 in Amman, sponsored by Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein. After playing the first five minutes of the match, Abu Zema gave the captain armband to his teammate Haitham Al-Shboul as well as his 18 jersey shirt to his younger teammate Hassan Abdel-Fattah and left the field.

Managerial career

Assistant coach

After retiring from playing football, Abu Zema became one of the assistant coaches of his national team (2006–09), under head coaches Mahmoud El-Gohary (2006–07),^[5] and Nelo Vingada (2007–09) until the Iraqi Adnan Hamad took over coaching the national team. When Dragan Talajić became head manager of Shabab Al-Ordon (2009–10), Abu Zema became his assistant coach ever since then. They both then moved to Abu Zema's home club Al-Wehdat (2010–11).^[5] When Ra'fat Ali, one of Abu Zema's companions, took proficiency in Kuwait, Abu Zema and Talajić joined him by coaching his team (2011–12).^[6]

Head coach

Abu Zema was appointed for the first time as head coach in February 2013, when he joined Jordanian club Al-Wehdat, where he succeeded Egyptian manager Mohammad Omar.^[7]

On 11 January 2022, Abu Zema was announced had coach of Ansar.^[8] He left at the end of the 2021–22 season.^[9]

Career statistics

International

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	18 July 1999	Amman	Syria	4–0	Win	Friendly
2	18 August 1999	Amman	Palestine	2–0	Win	1999 Pan Arab Games
3	18 August 1999	Amman	Palestine	2–0	Win	1999 Pan Arab Games
4	31 August 1999	Amman	Iraq	4–4	Draw	1999 Pan Arab Games
5	4 April 2000	Doha	Palestine	5–1	Win	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
6	4 April 2000	Doha	Palestine	5–1	Win	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
7	8 April 2000	Doha	Qatar	2–2	Draw	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
8	23 May 2000	Amman	Kyrgyzstan	2–0	Win	2000 West Asian Football Federation Championship
9	9 February 2002	Ta'Qali	Malta	2–1	Loss	Friendly
10	18 December 2002	Kuwait City	Morocco	1–1	Draw	2002 Arab Nations Cup
11	20 December 2002	Kuwait City	Sudan	2–1	Win	2002 Arab Nations Cup
12	26 August 2003	Amman	Iraq	2–1	Win	Friendly

Managerial

As of 24 May 2022

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Ref
Al-Wehdat	21 February 2013[10]	26 May 2015	79	50	18	11	142	48	+94	063.29
Jordan (caretaker)	12 January 2016[11]	15 December 2016[12]	10	2	5	3	8	9	−1	020.00	[13]
Kuwait SC	26 July 2017	2 March 2018	23	15	5	3	53	16	+37	065.22
Al Ansar	30 August 2018	25 May 2019	26	18	4	4	61	22	+39	069.23
Al-Wehdat	30 May 2019	21 November 2021	64	43	10	11	116	38	+78	067.19
Al Ansar	10 January 2022	Present	15	7	6	2	23	9	+14	046.67
Total			217	135	48	34	403	146	+257	062.21	—

Honours

Player

Al-Wehdat

• Jordan League: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–07, 1997, 2004–05
• Jordan FA Cup: 1996, 1997, 2000
• Jordan Super Cup: 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005
• Jordan Shield Cup: 1995, 2002, 2004

Al-Wakrah

• Qatar Stars League: 2000–01

Jordan

• Pan Arab Games: 1997, 1999

Manager

Al-Wehdat

• Jordanian Pro League: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2020
• Jordan FA Cup: 2013–14
• Jordan Super Cup: 2014, 2021
• Jordan Shield Cup: 2020

Kuwait SC

• Kuwait Super Cup: 2017

Ansar

• Lebanese FA Cup runner-up: 2021–22