Samir Ayass
Samir Ahmed Ay* (Arabic: سمير أحمد أياس, Lebanese Arabic pronunciation::; Bulgarian: Самир Ахмед Аяс; born 24 December 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Malaysian club Perak.
Coming through the youth system, Ay* began his senior career in 2008 at hometown club CSKA Sofia, before moving to cross-city side Akademik Sofia in 2010. He then went on to play for various Bulgarian sides, namely Minyor Pernik, Bansko, Montana, Lyubimets, and Beroe Stara Zagora, before returning to CSKA Sofia in 2015, winning the Bulgarian Cup. The following year he joined Dunav Ruse, before moving to Lebanon in 2017 to Ahed. After having won multiple *les, including the 2019 AFC Cup, Ay* returned to Dunav Ruse in 2019, before moving to Persiraja in Indonesia the following year. He moved back to Bulgaria in 2021, at Botev Vratsa, and then joined Malaysian side Perak.
Born in Bulgaria, Ay* represented them at youth level before switching allegiance to Lebanon, for whom he made his senior international debut in 2017. He helped his team reach the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time through qualification, playing in the final tournament.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Club career
- 2.1 Dunav Ruse
- 2.2 Ahed
- 2.3 Persiraja
- 2.4 Botev Vratsa
- 2.5 Perak
- 3 International career
- 3.1 Bulgaria
- 3.2 Lebanon
- 4 Style of play
- 5 Career statistics
- 5.1 Club
- 5.2 International
- 6 Honours
- 7 See also
- 8 References
- 9 External links
Early life
Samir Ay* was born in Sofia, Bulgaria to a Lebanese father and a Bulgarian mother. He started his playing career at CSKA Sofia at the age of six.
Club career
Dunav Ruse
On 6 October 2016, Ay* signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Dunav Ruse. He scored his first goal for the team on 9 April 2017, in a 1–0 win over champions Ludogorets Razgrad.
Ahed
On 4 August 2017, Ay* signed a two year contract with Lebanese Premier League champions Ahed for an undisclosed fee. He returned to Dunav Ruse in Bulgaria on 11 July 2019.
Persiraja
On 17 February 2020, Ay* moved to newly promoted Indonesian Liga 1 side Persiraja. Following the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ay* was released. He re-joined in March 2021 on trial ahead of the 2021 season.
Botev Vratsa
On 3 April 2021, Ay* returned to Bulgaria, joining Botev Vratsa for the final part of the 2020–21 First Professional League. He made his debut on 8 April, coming on as a subs*ute and winning a penalty for his team; they lost 2–1 to Botev Plovdiv. Ay* helped Botev avoid relegation.
Perak
On 19 June 2021, Ay* moved to Perak in the Malaysia Super League.
International career
Bulgaria
Ay* played for the Bulgarian under-21 team between 2011 and 2012, and was capped three times. However, he was never called-up for the senior team.
Lebanon
Eligible to represent Lebanon through his father, on 20 March 2017 he accepted the call up for Lebanon for the match against Hong Kong on 28 March 2017, for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification. He completed his debut, coming as a subs*ute on the 69th minute.
On 10 October 2017, Ay* scored his first international goal for Lebanon against North Korea, in a 5–0 home win at the Asian Cup qualifications. In December 2018, he was called up for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup squad, featuring in two group stage games.
Style of play
Ay* is a technical midfielder with good attacking capabilities.
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 12 September 2021International
As of match played 10 October 2017Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ay* goal.Honours
CSKA Sofia
- Bulgarian Cup: 2015–16
Ahed
- AFC Cup: 2019
- Lebanese Premier League: 2017–18, 2018–19
- Lebanese FA Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19
- Lebanese Super Cup: 2017, 2018
See also
- List of Lebanon international footballers born outside Lebanon
References
External links
- Samir Ay* at FA Lebanon
- Samir Ay* at National-Football-Teams.com
- Samir Ay* at Soccerway
- Samir Ay* at FootballDatabase.eu
- Samir Ay* at Goalzz.com (also in Arabic at Kooora.com)