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Libya national football team

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Libya
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Greens
AssociationLibyan Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Head coachTunisia Faouzi Benzarti
CaptainTarik El Taib
Most capsTarik El Taib
Home stadiumJune 11 Stadium
FIFA codeLBY
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current87
Highest61 (December 2004)
Lowest187 (July 1997)
First international
Egypt Egypt 10 - 2 Libya Libya
(Egypt; July 29, 1953)
Biggest win
Libya Libya 21 - 0 Oman Oman
(Iraq; April 1, 1966)
Biggest defeat
Egypt Egypt 10 - 2 Libya Libya
(Egypt; July 29, 1953)
African Nations Cup
Appearances2 (first in 1982)
Best resultRunners-up, 1982

The Libya national football team (Arabic: منتخب ليبيا لكرة القدم), is the national team of Libya and is controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. They have never reached the World Cup and have made two appearances at the African Nations Cup, finishing as runners up in 1982, when they hosted the tournament.

History

World Cups

Libya first entered the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 1970. Their early attempts failed, but during the 1980s the national side strengthened. The country's geopolitical position, however, affected the football team, who had to withdraw from qualifying for the 1982 and 1990 World Cups.

Libya came closest to qualifying for the world cup in 1986. They came to within a game of reaching the finals in Mexico. After winning their match against Sudan in their first game, the Libyans beat Ghana in the next round before taking on Morocco for a place at the finals. Morocco won the first game 3-0 and went through, even though Libya won the return leg 1-0.

After not entering the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup competition, Libya came back in the qualifying competition for Korea/Japan. The Libyans advanced to the second round at the expense of Mali, who were beaten 4-3 on aggregate.

In the group stage, Libya managed only one draw in eight games, however. The qualifying tournament did put Libya's captain Al-Saadi Qadhafi (son of Muammar al-Gaddafi) on the football map and he received a contract with former Serie A Italian club Perugia shortly afterwards.

In the qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a 9-0 two-legged victory against São Tome and Principe put the Libyans through to the group stage. However, during these two games, the country's most famous player, Al-Saadi Gaddafi, was banned when he failed a drug test.

A difficult group followed containing Egypt, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire, the eventual group winners and qualifiers for the World Cup. However, The Greens were able to secure good results against these sides, as they beat Egypt 2-1 in Tripoli, and held Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire to 0-0 draws, helping them to a 4th place finish and a place at the 2006 African Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.

See also

African Cup Of Nations

Libya 82

The biggest football tournament to be held in Libya was the 1982 African Cup of Nations. Libya qualified automatically as hosts and were put in a rather strong group alongside Ghana, Cameroon and Tunisia. The opening match of the tournament which saw the hosts take on Ghana in Tripoli was a closely contested match. Ghana managed to score a late goal in the 89th minute forcing a 2-2 draw. A 2-0 win over Tunisia and a goalless draw against Cameroon saw Libya topping the group.

In the semi-finals, Libya came from behind to beat Zambia 2-1 and set up another match with Ghana, this time in the final on March 19. Ghana scored first in the 35th minute, but Libya equalised in the 70th. This was followed by a tense period of extra time in which no goals were scored. In a long penalty shootout, Ghana came out triumphant 7-6.

Egypt 06

Libya's second African Cup of Nations saw a return to the higher levels of the international footballing scene at the 2006 African Cup of Nations finals in Egypt. They qualified for the competition after a goalless draw with Sudan in their ninth qualifying match.

Libya were drawn in Group A with Egypt (the hosts), 2006 World Cup-qualifiers Côte d'Ivoire and Morocco. Libya's players were unable to compete with these teams, but played bravely, going down 3-0 to Egypt in Cairo, then losing narrowly to a Yaya Toure screamer in the 74th minute. Against Morocco, they were always the better side, and had a goal dubiously ruled out for offside. Despite their performance in the Nations Cup, Libya showed signs they were improving as a football nation.

World Cup record

African Nations Cup record

See also

Notable Players

Current squad, January 2008

Current Squad

The following players were called for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against Lesotho on June 20 2008.

Coach: Tunisia Faouzi El Benzarti

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Samir Aboud (captain) September 29 1972 Libya Al Ittihad
2 2DF Hesham Shaban August 8 1980 Libya Al Ittihad
3 3MF Mohamed Esnani May 13 1984 Libya Al Ittihad
4 2DF Omar Daoud April 9 1983 Saudi Arabia Al-Wahda
5 2DF Younes Al Shibani June 27 1981 Libya Al Ittihad
6 2DF Ali Al Hasi Libya Al-Naser
7 2DF Walid Sebaee Libya Al Ahly T.
8 3MF Khaled Hussein February 24 1977 Libya Al Naser
9 4FW Salem Rewani February 28 1977 Libya Al Ittihad
10 4FW Reyad Ellafi July 5 1980 Libya Al Ittihad
11 Osama Salah
12 1GK Guma Mousa
13 2DF Mohamed Al Magrabi Libya Al Ahly T.
14 3MF Tarik El Taib February 28 1977 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
15 4FW Nader Kara January 19 1980 Libya Al Ahly T.
16 3MF Nader Al Tarhoni October 24 1979 Kuwait Kazma
17 4FW Mohamed Zubya March 20 1989 Libya Al Ittihad
18 2DF Osama Hamadi June 7 1975 Libya Al Ittihad

Recent Call Ups 2008

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
3 Walid Jalal (v. Lesotho on June 15)
6 3MF Abdulnaser Slil (v. Lesotho on June 15) September 2 1981 Libya Al Ittihad
10 4FW Ahmed Saad Osman (v. Lesotho on June 15) August 7 1979 Libya Al Ahl T.
11 Abdulhamid Hammadi (v. Gabon on June 7) December 1 1982
11 4FW Ahmed El Masli (v. Ghana on June 1) December 28 1979 Kuwait Al Arabi
14 Abubaker Suiuenei (v. Ghana on June 1)

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