Hamza Younés

Hamza Younés
	Younés playing for Tractor SC in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	16 April 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Monastir, Tunisia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1996–2005	US Monastir
Senior career*
Years	Team
2006–2011	Sfaxien
2011	Étoile du Sahel
2012–2013	Petrolul Ploiești
2014	Botev Plovdiv
2014–2015	Ludogorets Razgrad
2015–2016	Tractor SC
2016	Concordia Chiajna
2016–2017	Xanthi
2017–2018	BB Erzurumspor
2018	Al Ahli
2018–2019	Aris
2019–2020	Petrolul Ploiești
2020–2021	AEL
2021	Concordia Chiajna
2022–2023	ACSC Petrolul 95
2023–	Voința Limpeziș
International career‡
2014–2017	Tunisia
Managerial career
2023–	Voința Limpeziș
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:22, 26 January 2022 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 April 2018

Hamza Younés (Arabic: حمزة يونس; born 16 April 1986) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a forward.

After starting out at Sfaxien in his native country, Younés went on to compete in Romania, Bulgaria, Iran, Greece, Turkey and Qatar. Internationally, he amassed eleven caps for Tunisia between 2014 and 2017.

Club career

In August 2011, a few hours before the transfer deadline, Younés was brought to Étoile du Sahel, in an attempt to replace Ahmed Akaïchi.^[1] He later signed a three-year contract with the team. On 14 November 2011, Younés left Étoile.^[2]

In February 2012, after Younés' unsuccessful transfer to Astra Giurgiu because of contractual misunderstandings,^[3] he scored a move to fellow Liga 1 team Petrolul Ploieşti.^[4] He made an immediate impact with the team, scoring 12 times in his first six months with the "Yellow Wolves". In the 2012–13 Liga 1 season he played 28 games and scored 13 goals, he also won the Romanian Cup playing in 4 games.

On 28 January 2014, Younés signed with Bulgarian club Botev Plovdiv on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.^[5] On his debut that took place on 23 February, he scored twice in the 2–2 draw with Ludogorets Razgrad, putting in a MOTM performance and was subsequently recognized as the best performer of the round.

In August 2014, Younés put pen to paper on a contract with Ludogorets Razgrad.^[6] He scored his first goal for the club in the 3–1 win over his former club, Botev Plovdiv, in the Bulgarian Supercup final. Younés made his debut in UEFA Champions League group stages in the 2–1 loss to Liverpool, providing an assist for Daniel Abalo's equalizer.

He joined Persian Gulf Pro League club Tractor SC in summer of 2015.^[7] On 30 July 2015, Younés made his debut for Tractor SC against Naft Tehran. He scored his first goal on 20 September 2015 in a 1–0 Hazfi Cup victory against Saba Qom.

On 4 July 2016, Younés signed with Greek Superleague club Xanthi on a year deal for an undisclosed fee.^[8] He finished the season as the second top scorer of the league after the Swedish striker Marcus Berg.

Aris

On 20 July 2018, after a year playing with BB Erzurumspor and Al Ahli, Younés has agreed to return to Greek Super League and sign contract until the summer of 2020 with Aris.^[9] On 2 September 2018, the Tunisian striker received a high cross from Manolis Tzanakakis and tapped it in with his chest, thus scoring his first goal for the season and opening the score in a 2–0 home win against AEL.^[10] On 17 September 2018, he opened the score with a penalty in a 2–0 home win against Levadiakos.^[11] On 30 September 2018, he scored in a 2–0 home win against Asteras Tripoli, successfully converting a penalty won by Mateo García.^[12] On 25 November 2018, Younés scored twice in added time as an astonishing finish matchday clash against OFI ended in a 2–1 win for the Salonica club at the Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium.^[13] One week later, he opened the scored with a penalty kick in an eventual 1–1 home draw against Panathinaikos.^[14]

On 18 March 2019, Younés came in as a substitute and scored in a 5–0 home win against Apollon Smyrnis, returning to goals after three-and-a-half months.^[15] On 22 April 2019, his goal helped the team to a 2–1 away win against Panetolikos.^[16] On 5 May 2019, in the last matchday of the season, he was the undisputed MVP of a 7–2 home win against Xanthi, scoring one goal and providing his teammates with two assists.^[17]

Petrolul Ploiești

On 9 September 2019, Younés signed a contract with Petrolul Ploiești.^[18]

International career

On 28 May 2014, he made his debut for Tunisia, playing in the last four minutes of a 1–0 friendly win against South Korea. His second cap came in a 1–0 friendly loss to Belgium.

Personal life

Hamza married a Romanian woman in Ploiești in 2016, with whom he has a child.^[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 August 2019

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Petrolul Ploiești	2011–12	Liga I	13	12	0	0	—		—		13	12
	2012–13		28	13	4	0	—		—		32	13
	2013–14		11	9	1	0	6	3	1	0	19	12
	Total		52	34	5	0	6	3	1	0	64	37
Botev Plovdiv	2013–14	A Group	13	5	5	1	—		—		18	6
	2014–15	A Group	4	2	0	0	—		—		4	2
	Total		17	7	5	1	0	0	0	0	22	8
Ludogorets Razgrad	2014–15	A Group	17	4	2	0	6	0	1	1	26	5
Tractor SC	2015–16	Persian Gulf Pro League	13	3	2	2	—		—		15	5
Xanthi	2016–17	Super League Greece	27	19	4	1	—		—		31	20
BB Erzurumspor	2017–18	1. Lig	16	7	2	0	—		—		18	7
Al Ahli	2017–18	Qatar Stars League	6	2	0	0	—		—		6	2
Aris	2018–19	Super League Greece	24	9	3	0	—		—		27	9
	2019–20	Super League Greece	1	0	0	0	1	0	—		2	0
	Total		25	9	3	0	1	0	0	0	29	9
Career total			173	85	23	4	13	3	2	1	211	93