Robert Alexander Michel Melki is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Qatari club Al-Khor and the Lebanon national team. While mainly a center-back at the club level, Michel Melki is deployed as a right-back at the international level. Swedish by birth, Michel Melki represented them at youth level before also acquiring Lebanese nationality through his grandfather on his father's side. He decided to switch allegiance to Lebanon and made his senior international debut in 2018. After following his father's tracks playing at Syrianska for six years, Michel Melki moved to AFC Eskilstuna in 2017, helping them gain promotion back to the Allsvenskan the following season. In 2019, he moved to Qatari side Al-Khor.
Early life
Alexander was born and raised in Sweden, but has also acquired Lebanese nationality due to his Assyrian origins, making him eligible for the Lebanese national team. He has a younger brother, Felix, who also plays football. Felix stated in an interview with TRT World that his grandfather was Lebanese, and that two of his father's sisters were born in Lebanon. While is mother is Swedish, his father, Robert Michel, is of Syriac descent. He was a Syrianska player when the team was still in the lower divisions of Swedish football. It is based in Södertälje and is supported by Syriacs worldwide.
Club career
Syrianska
Alexander Michel started his career at Syrianska. His personal debut in the first team and in the Allsvenskan took place on 20 June 2011 at the age of 18, with his team being defeated 3-0 against Djurgården. During that season he made a total of 10 league appearances. In 2012 he found further space, with 23 appearances of which 18 as a starter. Exactly two years after his debut in the Swedish championship, on 20 June 2013 Michel seriously damaged the cruciate ligament of his left knee during a home match against Malmö FF. The injury forced him to stay out of action for a year, with his next official match being played on 25 June 2014 in the Superettan. Having recovered from the injury, in July 2015 Michel broke the same cruciate ligament damaged two years earlier forcing him to finish the season in advance. His last year at Syrianska was in 2016, with 25 league appearances in the league.
AFC Eskilstuna
After the expiration of his contract with Syrianska, Michel carried out trials with Hammarby and Djurgården in January 2017. A few weeks later, he signed a two-year contract with Allsveskan side AFC Eskilstuna. In his first season in the club, Alexander played 23 games in the Allsvenskan coming last in the league. The following season, relegated to the Superettan, he played 29 league games as well as both play-off games to promote his team back to the first division.
After playing for the U19 and U21 sides of Sweden, in 2018 Michel Melki received a call-up for Lebanon due to his origins. His international debut came in November against Uzbekistan, with the match ending in a goalless draw as he played the whole 90 minutes. He would be called up for the 2019 Asian Cup, alongside his brother Felix, one month later. On his birthday, on 14 November 2019, Michel Melki played the whole 90 minutes in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against South Korea. Lebanon held on to a 0–0 draw, with Michel Melki neutralizing Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min; he was widely regarded as the Man of the Match by Lebanese fans.
