Tha'er Bawab


Tha'er Fayed Al Bawab is a Jordanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Romanian club FC Dunărea Călărași.
He spent most of his professional career in Spain and Romania.

Club career

Early years / Real Madrid

Born in Amman of Palestinian descent, Bawab's family moved to Catalonia, Spain when he was a child. He started playing for the youth teams of local UE Cornellà, leaving at the age of 18 to Real Madrid where he completed his formation, and scoring 30 goals in his sole season with the Juvenil side.
In 2004, Bawab signed a professional contract with Real Madrid, and the club also agreed to pay a college scholarship for him, as he went on to make his senior debut with the third team in the fourth division. At that time, talks had started where people compared his style of play to Zinedine Zidane ; first-team coach Mariano García Remón thought about promoting him to the main squad, but eventually did not saying he did not want to put pressure on the youngster, who was just 19.

Barcelona / Journeyman in Spain

Bawab split the 2006–07 season with Real Madrid Castilla – for whom he did not appear officially – and another reserve team, FC Barcelona Atlètic, scoring three goals for the latter as both sides suffered relegation.
In the following three seasons, he competed in the country's division three, being relegated with all the clubs – CE L'Hospitalet, CD Alfaro and Moratalla CF.

Romania

In late June 2010, Bawab signed a two-year contract with Romanian club ACF Gloria 1922 Bistriţa. Midway through the season, as his team would eventually suffer relegation from Liga I, he joined fellow league side CS Gaz Metan Mediaş.
On 4 August 2011, Bawab scored two goals against 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the last qualifying round in the UEFA Europa League, one in each leg as Gaz Metan eventually won on penalties. On 26 September, he added two more in a 2–1 league home win over FCM Târgu Mureș.
In September 2014, free agent Bawab moved to CS Universitatea Craiova also in Romania's top flight. He remained in the country the following years safe for a very brief spell in the Qatar Stars League with Umm Salal SC, representing FC Steaua București, FC Dinamo București, CS Concordia Chiajna and FC Dunărea Călărași.

International career

Bawab made his debut for Jordan in a friendly with Norway on 28 January 2005, which ended 0–0. He made six appearances for the national team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, scoring once.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
126 March 2008Olympic Stadium, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan2–02–02010 World Cup qualification
216 October 2012Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman1–21–22014 World Cup qualification
34 February 2014Jalan Besar, Kallang, Singapore1–03–12015 Asian Cup qualification
45 March 2014International Stadium, Amman, Jordan1–02–12015 Asian Cup qualification
55 March 2014International Stadium, Amman, Jordan2–02–12015 Asian Cup qualification
623 March 2017King Abdullah II, Amman, Jordan4–04–0Friendly

Honours

Club

Real Madrid C
Steaua București
Dinamo București