Dia Saba

Dia Saba
	Saba playing for Maccabi Netanya in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	18 November 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Majd al-Krum, Israel
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	Maccabi Haifa
Number	10
Youth career
	Hapoel Haifa
	Beitar Nes Tubruk
Senior career*
Years	Team
2009–2011	Beitar Nes Tubruk
2011–2013	Maccabi Tel Aviv
2012–2013	→ Hapoel Be'er Sheva (loan)
2013	→ Bnei Sakhnin (loan)
2013–2014	Maccabi Petah Tikva
2014–2018	Maccabi Netanya
2018–2019	Hapoel Be'er Sheva
2019–2020	Guangzhou R&F
2020–2022	Al-Nasr
2022–2023	Sivasspor
2023–	Maccabi Haifa
2024	→ Emirates Club (loan)
International career
2011	Israel U19
2013–2014	Israel U21
2018–	Israel
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 January 2025

Dia Saba (sometimes Sabi'a or Seba,^[2]^[3]^[4] Arabic: ضياء سبع, Hebrew: דיא סבע; born 18 November 1992) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for UAE Pro League club Emirates Club.

Early life

Saba was born in Majd al-Krum, Israel, to a Muslim-Arab family.^[5]^[6] He is a cousin of former footballer Ahmad Saba'a.^[7]

Career

Saba began his career with the youth selections of Hapoel Haifa, and later moved to Beitar Nes Tubruk. In summer 2011, Saba joined Maccabi Tel Aviv and played under manager Motti Ivanir. However, he made only two appearances over four months, and in January 2012 was subsequently loaned to Hapoel Be'er Sheva until the end of the season. On 21 January 2012, Saba made his debut for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and scored twice in a 2–0 victory over Hapoel Haifa, helping the club to stay in the league. He was then again loaned for half the season. In February 2013 he moved to Bnei Sakhnin, playing ten league matches and failing to score. Before the 2013–14 season, Saba signed with Maccabi Petah Tikva. The following season he signed a two-year contract with Maccabi Netanya. He played with Netanya for four years, scoring 51 goals in 114 appearances in all club competitions, including 24 league goals in the 2017–18 season.^[8]

On 17 September 2018, Saba returned to Be'er Sheva as Hapoel paid Maccabi Netanya a record transfer fee of €2 million.^[9] He signed a four-year contract with Be'er Sheva worth €1.6 million.^[10] He made his debut at home against Bnei Yehuda, in a goalless game. Saba scored his first goal for Be'er Sheva on 6 October 2018, in a 4–1 win over Maccabi Petah Tikva.

In January 2019, he moved to Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F, linking up with fellow Israel national team striker Eran Zahavi.^[11]

In September 2020, Saba joined Al-Nasr, becoming the first Israeli to play in the United Arab Emirates following the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement.^[12]

On 22 August 2022, Saba joined Turkish Süper Lig club Sivasspor.^[13]

On 30 January 2023, Saba signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Maccabi Haifa.^[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 February 2024^[8]^[15]^[16]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Maccabi Tel Aviv	2011–12	Israeli Premier League	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
Hapoel Be'er Sheva (loan)	2011–12		15	3	2	0	0	0	—		17	3
	2012–13		15	0	1	0	4	1	—		20	1
	Total		30	3	3	0	4	1	0	0	37	4
Bnei Sakhnin (loan)	2012–13	Israeli Premier League	10	0	2	1	0	0	—		12	1
Maccabi Petah Tikva	2013–14		29	3	4	5	0	0	—		33	8
Maccabi Netanya	2014–15		29	4	0	0	2	0	—		31	4
	2015–16		3	0	0	0	0	0	—		3	0
	2016–17	Liga Leumit	32	17	1	0	3	0	—		36	17
	2017–18	Israeli Premier League	34	24	2	1	2	1	0	0	38	26
	2018–19	Israeli Premier League	2	0	0	0	4	4	0	0	6	4
	Total		100	45	3	1	11	5	0	0	114	51
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	2018–19	Israeli Premier League	16	4	2	1	0	0	—		18	5
Guangzhou R&F	2019	Chinese Super League	26	13	0	0	—		—		26	13
	2020	Chinese Super League	10	5	1	0	—		—		11	5
	Total		36	18	1	0	0	0	0	0	37	18
Al-Nasr	2020–21	UAE Pro League	24	6	—		5	1	—		29	7
	2021–22	UAE Pro League	25	11	—		4	2	—		29	13
	Total		49	17	0	0	9	3	0	0	58	20
Sivasspor	2022–23	Süper Lig	13	5	1	0	—		6	1	20	6
Maccabi Haifa	2022–23	Israeli Premier League	16	6	1	1	0	0	—		17	7
	3	Israeli Premier League	2	0	0	1	0	10	2	14	4
	Career total			304	103	17	9	27	9	16	3	364	124

International

Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Saba goal.^[15]

List of international goals scored by Dia Saba
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 October 2018	Turner Stadium, Be'er Sheva, Israel	Albania	2–0	2–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League C
2	15 November 2018	Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel	Guatemala	5–0	7–0	Friendly
3	15 November 2018	Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel	Guatemala	6–0	7–0	Friendly

Honours

Maccabi Netanya

Liga Leumit: 2016–17

Maccabi Haifa

Individual

Israel Football Players Organization's Player of the Season: 2017–18^[17]
Israeli Premier League top scorer: 2017–18 (24 goals)

References

^ "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.
^ "Dia Sabia | Football Stats | Hapoel Beer Sheva | Age 27 | Soccer Base". soccerbase.com.
^ "Know your Opponent: Maccabi Netanya". 18 September 2017.
^ "Dia Seba – Israel". UEFA. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
^ Yokhin, Michael (4 April 2018). "Meet Bibars Natcho, the Muslim CSKA Moscow midfielder that became Israel's first ever non-Jewish captain". The Independent. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
^ Boehm, Charles (26 February 2018). "Report: Minnesota 1 of 2 MLS teams eyeing Israeli league star Dia Saba". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
^ Mendel, Jack (15 October 2018). "Give football a chance to break the cycle of violence". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
^ ^a ^b "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.
^ "המושיע האחרון? דיא סבע חתם בהפועל ב"ש". israelhayom.co.il (in Hebrew). 17 September 2018.
^ "הפועל באר שבע רכשה את דיא סבע תמורת 2.2 מיליון יורו: "מרגיש כבר את הטירוף בעיר" - וואלה! ספורט". sports.walla.co.il. 17 September 2018.
^ "公告 | 以色列金靴萨巴加盟广州富力". Guangzhou R&F F.C. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ "Guangzhou R&F's Dia Saba to become first Israeli player in UAE after peace deal". Xinhuanet. 25 September 2020.
^ "Dia Saba resmen Sivasspor'da". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
^ "ברוך הבא סבע!" (in Hebrew). Maccabi Haifa F.C. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b Dia Saba at National-Football-Teams.com
^ Dia Saba at Soccerway
^ "דיא סבע נבחר לשחקן העונה של ליגת העל". One (in Hebrew). Retrieved 13 January 2020.

External links

Dia Saba – Israel Football Association league player details

[1] "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.

[2] "Dia Sabia | Football Stats | Hapoel Beer Sheva | Age 27 | Soccer Base". soccerbase.com.

[3] "Know your Opponent: Maccabi Netanya". 18 September 2017.

[4] "Dia Seba – Israel". UEFA. Retrieved 4 September 2020.

[background1-5] Yokhin, Michael (4 April 2018). "Meet Bibars Natcho, the Muslim CSKA Moscow midfielder that became Israel's first ever non-Jewish captain". The Independent. Retrieved 4 September 2020.

[background2-6] Boehm, Charles (26 February 2018). "Report: Minnesota 1 of 2 MLS teams eyeing Israeli league star Dia Saba". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.

[background3-7] Mendel, Jack (15 October 2018). "Give football a chance to break the cycle of violence". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 4 September 2020.

[israel_stats-8] "ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל - פרטי שחקן". football.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 September 2020.

[9] "המושיע האחרון? דיא סבע חתם בהפועל ב"ש". israelhayom.co.il (in Hebrew). 17 September 2018.

[10] "הפועל באר שבע רכשה את דיא סבע תמורת 2.2 מיליון יורו: "מרגיש כבר את הטירוף בעיר" - וואלה! ספורט". sports.walla.co.il. 17 September 2018.

[11] "公告 | 以色列金靴萨巴加盟广州富力". Guangzhou R&F F.C. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[12] "Guangzhou R&F's Dia Saba to become first Israeli player in UAE after peace deal". Xinhuanet. 25 September 2020.

[13] "Dia Saba resmen Sivasspor'da". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.

[14] "ברוך הבא סבע!" (in Hebrew). Maccabi Haifa F.C. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.

[NFT-15] Dia Saba at National-Football-Teams.com

[16] Dia Saba at Soccerway

[17] "דיא סבע נבחר לשחקן העונה של ליגת העל". One (in Hebrew). Retrieved 13 January 2020.

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