Nayim
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| Nayim | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mohammed Alí Amar | |
| Date of birth | November 5, 1966 | |
| Place of birth | Ceuta, Spain | |
| Playing position | Midfield | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1986–1988 1988–1993 1993-1997 1997–2000 |
Barcelona Tottenham Real Zaragoza CD Logroñés |
7 (0) 144 (18) 123 (5) 67 (5) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Mohammed Alí Amar, Nayim (born 5 November 1966 in Ceuta, Spain) is a Spanish footballer who played for Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and Real Zaragoza.
Nayim is best remembered for scoring one of the most famous goals in European football when scoring the winner for Real Zaragoza in the 1995 European Cup Winners' Cup final[1] , an ambitious lob over the Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman from 40 yards out in the final minute of extra time. The irony on Arsenal was that the goal came from a former Spurs player. Tottenham subsequently made a fanzine based on this moment, dubbed "One Flew Over Seaman's Head".
[edit] Career
He came to Spurs originally on loan from Barcelona in November 1988 and signed the following year for £400,000. Then Nayim made 11 league appearances during the 1988-89 campaign, scoring twice. His first goal for the club came in a 2-0 win at Southampton and he also found the net in Spurs 3-0 home win over West Ham United.
In 1989-90 Nayim made a total of 23 appearances, helping the North London club to a 3rd place finish. The League Cup offered Nayim his first experience of English cup competition, the Spaniard playing in 4 of Spurs games en route to the semi-final and scoring 3 goals.
The following season proved to be Nayim's most successful campaign in English football. Although Spurs finished in only 11th position in the table, Nayim enjoyed 33 league outings and scored 5 times. His path to a Wembley final was again halted at the League Cup semi-final stage but Spurs would not fail in the FA Cup; overcoming Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the final. Nayim replaced Paul Gascoigne early in the final, - after a series of reckless challenges by the Geordie threatened to end his own career - and set up both Spurs goals that afternoon to bring success to White Hart Lane.
It is rumoured that during training Nayim and Gascoigne would try to outdo each other with shots and tricks for fun, on one such occasion, as the story goes, they hit footballs into a dustbin from 40 yards without letting them bounce. Nayim beat Gascoigne, much to the other players delight.
Nayim's marvellous skills and deft touches made him a crowd favourite and he appeared in 31 games in the league throughout 1991-92. The former Barcelona midfielder played 6 times in Spurs League Cup campaign, including both legs of the semi-final where Nottingham Forest gained revenge for the previous season's FA Cup final defeat by proving too strong for the London club.
In the 1992-93 season, Nayim won the goal of the month competition for October with a spectacular volley against Liverpool. Later in the season, Nayim scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City helping Spurs to win 4-2.
In May 1993, after 144 appearances and 18 goals for Spurs, Nayim signed for Real Zaragoza for £500,000. Two years later the former Spurs man attained immortality by lobbing David Seaman from 40 yards in the final seconds of extra-time to beat Spurs' arch rivals Arsenal in the 1995 European Cup Winners Cup Final. In 2006 the aragonese village of Trasmoz named a street as 'Gol de Nayim' ('Nayim Goal Street').
