Al-Karamah SC: Where Are They Now?
The former Asian and Syrian giant after 10 years of civil war where are they now??
Syria is a small country on the Mediterranean Sea, you probably heard about it on the news, there is nothing to hide, the country has been in sectarian war for 10 years now. Syria is the home of diverse religious and ethnic groups including (Muslims Sunni, Shia, Christians, Kurds, Armenians and other many).
Since 2011 the Syrian people living in horrible conditions with low life standards before that Syria wasn’t the perfect country but at least it was better than current circumstances.
Return to football, the participation of Syrian clubs in the Asian championships fluctuated between failure and achievement.
And this clubs achieved some glory not like the Syrian national team which just won the gold medal in the Mediterranean games in 1987 and the west Asia tournament in 2012.
Only Al-Karamah which put the Syrian in football between the Asian giants by its legendary generation era between 2006 to 2009, until now anyone who follows the Syrian football still remembers some names of this legendry generation like Mosab Balhous (Gk) , Aatef Jenyat (CDM) , Jihad Al-Hussian (Cam) , Firas Al-Khatib (CM).
This names reached the AFC champions league final in 2006 and unfortunately , Al-karamah loss against the south Korean jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in aggregate 3-2 after terrific won for Al-karamah in their historical ground Khaled ibn alwalid staduim in Homs (north of Damascus the Syrian capital ).
What made us remember this club (Al-Karamah) not only because they reached the final and eliminate Saudi, Kuwaiti, Emirati (UAE), Qatari clubs which have unlimited budgets and best facilities and better players from south America or the best managers in the region, Al-Karamah reached the final almost no budget, low level foreigners not like the other rich competitors.
Al-karamah as I mentioned before has no budget it’s a government club not a private club, so its revenue comes from tickets and the government support ( both were are too low compared to the wealthy gas countries clubs like KSA, Qatar , UAE) , but Al-karamah had what the gulf nations clubs lack of which is ambitious poor players , spirit , and a ground (Khaled ibn Elwalid stadium ) which was like a fort .
History background
Al-Karamah sc is a Syrian football club based in the city of Homs , founded in 1928, it considered one of the oldest Asian clubs , the club 8 Syrian league titles , the first Syrian club that win both the league and cup titles in the same year.
Return to the golden era of the club had 4 appearances in Afc champions league
2006: Runners up
2007: Quarter-finals
2008: Quarter-finals
In 2009 the Asian Football Confederation put a law in order to contribute in the AFC Champions League every club should convert to commercial company and all the players should be professionals.
This simple law prevents Al-Karamah to appear in the AFC Champions League so Al-Karamah participates in the AFC Cup (Asian Europa league) in 2009 , they reached the final and unfortunately the winner was the Kuwaiti opponent Al-Kuwait 2-1.
In 2010 Al-Karamah eliminated in Quarter finals.
Finally in 2011 ( the same year the civil war started ) Al-Karamah eliminated in the group stage, and this was the last appearance in the Asian football.
Currently the city of Homs is a ruined city suffer from the civil war effects, the sport in general and football specifically isn’t a priority for the government or the people, all the funds are going to reconstruct the city and people wages so it will take too much time to make the club return to its old glory.
Some notable players from the golden era where are they now
Mosab Balhous (GK ) : one of the only players who are still in the club, the 37 years old who had 88 caps with the Syrian national team , I guess the reasons that he still playing in the Syrian league that the gulf region doesn’t allow a foreign goalkeeper to play in their league (except Saudi Arabia which allow foreign GKs who are A class with high wages )
Jihad Al-Hussian (CAM): Retired after a long journey in Gulf leagues (Kuawit , UAE , Saudi Arabia ) , during his period in Saudi Arabia , he played with 2 clubs (Al-Tawoon , Al Raed ) he became the most assistant provider in the history of the Saudi League (MBS).
Currently he is working as assistant coach in Al-Raed club.
Muhamed Almawaas (ST) : he plays for Romanian club FC Botoșani. He made his international debut with Syria in 2012, aged 19.
Alaa elshbli (RB) : He currently plays, which play in the Qatari Second Division, the top division in Qatar. He plays as a right wingback, wearing the shirt with number 15 for Al-Karamah. For the Syrian national football team.
At the end , I hope that Al-Karamah return to its old glory before 2011 and Syria gain some stability after the civil war come to the end and the peace takes place.