Nawaf Al-Aqidi
Nawaf bin Dhahi bin Faisal Al-Suwaiti Al-Aqidi (Arabic: نواف بن ضاحي بن فيصل الشويطي العقيدي; born 10 May 2000) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Saudi Arabia national team and Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr.
.jpg) Al-Aqidi with Al Nassr in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nawaf bin Dhahi bin Faisal Al-Suwaiti Al-Aqidi | ||
| Date of birth | 10 May 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Al Nassr | ||
| Number | 44 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Al Nassr | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020– | Al Nassr | 31 | (0) |
| 2022 | → Al-Tai (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019–2021 | Saudi Arabia U20 | ||
| 2021–2022 | Saudi Arabia U23 | 21 | (0) |
| 2023– | Saudi Arabia | 4 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 December 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 January 2024 | |||
Career
Club
Nawaf began his career for the youth team of Al-Nassr. On 30 June 2019, he was chosen in the Saudi program to develop football talents established by General Sports Authority. He signed his first professional contract with Al-Nassr on 8 August 2019. He returned from the program due to family circumstances and was promoted to Al-Nassr's first-team on 31 December 2019. On 11 January 2020, he was named on the bench for the first team the league match against Al-Ittihad. On 30 September 2021, Al-Aqidi made his debut for Al-Nassr in the league match against Abha. On 30 January 2022, Al-Aqidi joined Al-Tai on loan. He made his debut on 12 February 2022, in the 3–1 win against Al-Batin. He made 7 appearances and kept 3 clean sheets for Al-Tai before returning to Al-Nassr at the end of the season.
International
Saudi Arabia U23
He played for the Saudi Arabia U20 national team but was not part of the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship qualification, in which Saudi Arabia qualified with two wins and one draw. However, with the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, he was able to redeem himself in the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup with a spectacular performance, guiding the team to conquer the first title without conceding a single goal and a near perfect record with only Japan managed to hold Saudi Arabia a draw.
He was also summoned for the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey, which was delayed to 2022 due to the same reason. Al-Aqidi once again impressed in the tournament without conceding a single goal in the group stage until the semi-finals, when he finally conceded a goal after eight consecutive clean sheets, in Saudi Arabia's 2–1 win over Algeria, albeit it was from a penalty rather than an open play. In the final, Al-Aqidi finally conceded the first ever open play goal after nine games, which was against the hosts Turkey in a pressuring attempt that saw Metehan Altunbaş netted, yet that goal proved disastrous as Saudi Arabia proved unable to break the Turkish defence as Saudi Arabia's hope to win the second major tournament in the same year crashed by this 0–1 loss.
Senior
On 18 November 2021, Al-Aqidi called up to the senior side for the first time to take part in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup. He made no appearances in the competition, as Saudi Arabia exited at the group stage.
On 11 November 2022, Al-Aqidi was named in the squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He didn't play a single game in the tournament as third choice keeper to Mohammed Al-Owais and Mohammed Al-Rubaie, as Saudi Arabia again crashed out of the group stage despite historic win over Argentina in the opener.
On 30 December 2022, Al-Aqidi was named in the squad for the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup. He started in all three matches, as Saudi Arabia again failed to progress from the group stage. However, under the coaching of Roberto Mancini, Al-Aqidi was excluded from the squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Honours
Al-Nassr
Saudi Arabia U23
- AFC U-23 Asian Cup: 2022
- WAFF U-23 Championship: 2021 Runner up
Individual
- Saudi Professional League Young Player of the Month: May & June 2022
- Saudi Professional League Goalkeeper of the Month: April 2023
- WAFF U-23 Championship Best Goalkepper: 2021
- AFC U-23 Asian Cup Best Goalkeeper: 2022
- Arab Club Champions Cup Best Goalkeeper: 2023
References
External links
- Nawaf Al-Aqidi at Soccerway
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