Maziar Kouhyar

Maziar Kouhyar (Dari: مازیار كوهيار, born 30 September 1997), is an Afghan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder most recently for EFL League One side Walsall. He is the first Afghan to play professionally in Great Britain.[3]

Maziar Kouhyar
Personal information
Full name Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar[1]
Date of birth (1997-09-30) 30 September 1997[2]
Place of birth Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
0000–2013 Coventry City
2013–2016 Walsall
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Walsall 21 (1)
National team‡
2017– Afghanistan 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:54, 15 October 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:54, 15 October 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan,[3] Kouhyar moved to England as a two-year-old due to conflict in his home country.[4] His parents settled in Handsworth suburb of Birmingham and his father worked as a pizza delivery driver, before returning to Afghanistan to work as an interpreter, leaving his mother to bring up the four children.[3] At the age of eleven he was spotted by a Coventry City scout after attending a Saturday football session with his cousin, and joined the club's youth system.[3] After being released at the age of sixteen, he played in Sunday league football, before being spotted by a Walsall scout whilst playing in a local Powerleague.[3] After a trial, he subsequently joined the club.[5] He went on to sign a two-year scholarship with the club, progressing to sign his first professional deal in February 2016, on a one-year contract with the option of a further year.[5] He made his professional debut in August 2016, in a 2–0 defeat to Chesterfield, replacing Kieron Morris as a substitute.[6] He scored his first goal for Walsall in an EFL Trophy tie against Grimsby Town on 30 August 2016.[7] On 9 December 2016 he signed a new contract with Walsall until the summer of 2019.[8]

Outside of football, Kouhyar attends an accountancy evening course.[3]

International career

In October 2016, he received his first call-up to the Afghanistan senior side for the friendly against Malaysia.[4] While he was on international duty with the national team, he picked up an injury which cost him a minimum of three months without playtime and required knee surgery.[9] Kouhyar made his formal debut for Afghanistan in a friendly 2–0 loss to Oman on 30 August 2017.[10] In 2018 he rejected a call-up for a home match against Palestine as his family did not want him to travel to Kabul.[3]

Career statistics
As of match played 5 January 2019.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Walsall 2015–16[11] League One 0000000000
2016–17[11] League One 6000001[lower-alpha 1]171
2017–18[12] League One 15110104[lower-alpha 1]0211
2018–19[13] League One 0010103[lower-alpha 1]151
Career total 211202082333
  1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

References
  1. "Retained List 2015-16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. "Maz Kouhyar". 11v11. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. "Setting an example", When Saturday Comes, April 2019, pp16–17
  4. "Walsall's Maz Kouhyar delight over international call-up". Express and Star. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  5. "Walsall sign starlets Jordan Sangha and Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar". Express and Star. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  6. "Maziar Kouhyar - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  7. "Walsall 5 Grimsby 2". expressandstar.com. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  8. "Maziar Kouhyar: Walsall midfielder signs new contract with League One club". BBC. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  9. "Walsall Midfielder Maziar Kouhyar Undergoes Surgery". bescotbanter. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  10. "Oman vs Afghanistan 2 - 0 - FIFA Friendlies - 2017 - August - World Football". www.worldfootball.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  11. "Games played by Maziar Kouhyar in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  12. "Games played by Maziar Kouhyar in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  13. "Games played by Maziar Kouhyar in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
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