CanadaFan123 Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 This is one of the best Canadian soccer twitter feeds but I always have to get my Google translate ready.. "Werder Bremen have hired young Canadian defender Belal Halbouni (20). He was at FC London of League1 Ontario. Initially he will play for the under-23 team." Looking a bit like Stalteri with those curls and probably around the same age of signing. He was also a striker at Western it looks like before converting to defence. Talk about out of left field! Let's hope they can turn him into Diesel 2.0. johnyb, Acid-Tone, CANMNT_SUPERFAN and 16 others 18 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANMNT_SUPERFAN Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 It is indeed very reliable, will like to add!!!!... I check it on a daily basis & great up-to-the-minute news about everything concerning Canadian footie!!!... Great updates/infos concerning the dual nationals I find & pretty credible tbh for the most part! johnyb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Did some quick digging and he used to be a striker but on his 2019 league one highlight reel (on youtube) it says CB or CAM. Obviously one to keep an eye on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdog Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.werder.de/aktuell/news/u23/20192020/news/pm-halbouni-31012020&prev=search Nice to see this out of nowhere. Addona 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowcrash Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) Watched the League 1 Ontario video and while mindful of the level of play, Halbouni looked quite impressive. Looks to have good CB height. Very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Excellent distribution from the back line. Good defensive anticipation and does not shy away from 50-50 balls and good in the air. A couple of risky plays dribbling the ball away from pressure when he was last defender back you want to see that level of confidence. Turns out he's 6'3" which makes his ball control that much more impressive. Also, I thought he was chewing up ground like nothing in the video when he was running but his size would explain that. Edited February 1, 2020 by Snowcrash Kyle_The_Hill and toontownman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colliedor Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 7 hours ago, Snowcrash said: Watched the League 1 Ontario video and while mindful of the level of play, Halbouni looked quite impressive. Looks to have good CB height. Very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Excellent distribution from the back line. Good defensive anticipation and does not shy away from 50-50 balls and good in the air. A couple of risky plays dribbling the ball away from pressure when he was last defender back you want to see that level of confidence. Turns out he's 6'3" which makes his ball control that much more impressive. Also, I thought he was chewing up ground like nothing in the video when he was running but his size would explain that. Ya decided to watch last years final. He was a standout for sure. Didn't get beat all game, pretty solid defensively. What's refreshing is to see him very comfortable with the ball and attempting long forward passes. Not enough of our defenders are like this. He can play in many different positions however. If CB doesn't work he there's always a chance he can fight for a different spot. hamiltonfan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 On 1/31/2020 at 1:42 PM, CanadaFan123 said: This is one of the best Canadian soccer twitter feeds but I always have to get my Google translate ready.. "Werder Bremen have hired young Canadian defender Belal Halbouni (20). He was at FC London of League1 Ontario. Initially he will play for the under-23 team." Looking a bit like Stalteri with those curls and probably around the same age of signing. He was also a striker at Western it looks like before converting to defence. Talk about out of left field! Let's hope they can turn him into Diesel 2.0. IIRC, Vittoria, Haber and McKenna all switched between striker and CB so perhaps this is a Canadian tradition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadenge Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 5 hours ago, nolando said: IIRC, Vittoria, Haber and McKenna all switched between striker and CB so perhaps this is a Canadian tradition! You can add Cornelius to that list Northvansteve, nolando and Shway 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apbsmith Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 What an awesome opportunity. Going from CIS ball and L10 to u23 with a Bundesliga club, wow. Don't know much about Werder Bremen but I'll be hoping they survive relegation. I am going to assume he will be in an excellent training environment also. What's exciting is as a CB he can have many more years before he hits his prime years in the right environment. johnyb and Halbouni_12 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Diego Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Just looking at the stats I saw him listed as a striker who didn't score many goals, so I didn't know what was up. The fact that he's actually a centre back is intriguing. Sounds like he made a positional switch from attack to defence, so the comments about him being good on the ball make sense. Really interesting transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoccMan Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 This just shows you that no matter what players can still go unnoticed . It looks like both TFC and the two Ontario based CPL clubs didn’t notice this guy. If he is good enough to sign with a Bundesliga U23 team you think he would have been good enough to sign with a CPL team or even TFC’s USL team . Shway 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bison44 Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 I dont think it was that they missed him, more that him switching to CB and finding himself a home, changed his path. He was at Western and L10 and didnt start blossoming until he switched positions (as per article). Its a good thing we still have L10, the PLSQ league and hopefully a BC league coming, Keep these guys playing until they are 20 and maybe some will find new positions or get the coaching they need to make that jump. Not every talented kid will stick out when they are teenagers, for whatever reason. Maybe he gets a look at the U-23 side? Very exciting story and hopefully he tears it up in germany. https://lfpress.com/sports/soccer/londoner-gets-a-chance-to-realize-childhood-dream-with-german-soccer-league-signing johnyb, Ivan, apbsmith and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaFan123 Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 https://twitter.com/Canucks_Abroad/status/1223595520872022017 FWIW he was one of only two outfield players to go the full 90 for the u23 side Saturday. This is a pretty rapid rise considering the position change. But for that major factor it almost reminds me of Di Chiara turning up in Russia suddenly. But having watched video and in reading the background this player has potential I don’t think di Chiara ever did. Bison44 and Northvansteve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowcrash Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Impressive that he's only played CB for 4 months. He seems to have the physical tools as well as decent technique and how he progresses will depend entirely on how he reads the game as a CB. I'm guessing that between regular training sessions, he'll be spending a lot of time with video coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halbouni_12 Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Ok boys. Everything ya need to know about Belal Halbouni. Just reply. yes very talented. Always had the tools for a complete footballer. I’m his cousin and mentor. I’ve been with the kid for since he was 5. He needs to be called to National duties so he can represent his country for World Cup 2026 in Canada toontownman, MtlMario, vancanman and 16 others 15 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strait Red Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 4 minutes ago, Halbouni_12 said: Ok boys. Everything ya need to know about Belal Halbouni. Just reply. yes very talented. Always had the tools for a complete footballer. I’m his cousin and mentor. I’ve been with the kid for since he was 5. He needs to be called to National duties so he can represent his country for World Cup 2026 in Canada Keep us updated on his progress! I hope things go well for him in Germany. vancanman, toontownman, Halbouni_12 and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowcrash Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 23 minutes ago, Halbouni_12 said: Ok boys. Everything ya need to know about Belal Halbouni. Just reply. yes very talented. Always had the tools for a complete footballer. I’m his cousin and mentor. I’ve been with the kid for since he was 5. He needs to be called to National duties so he can represent his country for World Cup 2026 in Canada The full 90 he played for the U23's, was it at CB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halbouni_12 Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 He played half at centre back and 2nd half at right defence. He played really well. Colliedor, apbsmith, JuicyHam and 6 others 5 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Diego Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Halbouni_12 said: Ok boys. Everything ya need to know about Belal Halbouni. Just reply. yes very talented. Always had the tools for a complete footballer. I’m his cousin and mentor. I’ve been with the kid for since he was 5. He needs to be called to National duties so he can represent his country for World Cup 2026 in Canada How did Werder Bremen find out about him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowcrash Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Halbouni_12 said: He played half at centre back and 2nd half at right defence. He played really well. When you mentioned the 2nd half at right defence, I wondered if they played a three man back line because Belal would be really tall for a fullback. I checked the lineups for the regular team and sure enough, it's three at the back so I would think it's the same system for the U23's. Edited February 4, 2020 by Snowcrash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colliedor Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 With the technique on the ball and willingness to move up, I wondering if we were going to see him as a fullback eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apbsmith Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 4 hours ago, Halbouni_12 said: He played half at centre back and 2nd half at right defence. He played really well. Awesome, thx. Pretty impressive they rolled him out the full 90 already. How's he liking the training environment so far? I'm sure there will be some hi cups along his development but man WB must be super excited about the ceiling potential in the right environment he could have. As someone else posted, how did WB find him/get in contact with him? did he go on trial first?... I know it's personal etc so any information you feel and can share is totally cool. We are all probably more just curious compared to anything. Pass on the best and well wishes to him from all us V's, we are definitely rooting for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halbouni_12 Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 We have a family connection with Werder Bremen. He went to Spain to train for a week and we got a call for a week trial in Germany for a week. He showed some potential and they told him to come back in Jan. He took full advantage of the 3 week trial. They liked what he showed. johnyb, Strait Red, Unnamed Trialist and 4 others 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halbouni_12 Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 5 hours ago, Snowcrash said: When you mentioned the 2nd half at right defence, I wondered if they played a three man back line because Belal would be really tall for a fullback. I checked the lineups for the regular team and sure enough, it's three at the back so I would think it's the same system for the U23's. Not sure what system the u23 have. I’m pretty sure they played 4 4 2 i can find out next game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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