Life down in the third division of any footballing pyramid is tough. It’s even tougher when you clearly have the quality to compete in a better league.
2019 has been a challenge for Amor Kaddoura. He was promised a national team debut by Noureddine Ould Ali- only for the latter to renege on his promise. The Sweden born shot stopper was the third choice option during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup behind Rami Hamadi and Toufic Ali.
To add insult to injury many fans had pointed at a statically poor season for Landskrona BoIS in 2018 and questioned whether the goalkeeper for the bottom club in the Superettan deserved a place in the national team.
The 2019 season gave Kaddoura an opportunity to dispel all doubts about his quality. First and foremost he set a record for matches played in a domestic season- 28 out of a possible 32- missing one match through suspension, two matches through injury, and one by coach’s decision (he was rested before the promotion playoffs).
He even scored a stunning last gasp goal against IFK Värnamo in a 2-2 draw but his gargantuan efforts came to a halt this past weekend as Landskrona fell to Öster in the Superettan promotion/relegation playoff.
92:a minuten. 2-1 till @ifkvmo.
Då får @landskronabois en hörna, målvakten Amr Kaddoura når högst och fixar en poäng till gästerna. Härliga @Ettanfotboll! pic.twitter.com/6pte3Wgr5J— FotbollDirekt.se (@FotbollDirekt) May 19, 2019
Statistically speaking- only three other goalkeepers have had better season in terms of clean sheets and goals conceded. Kaddoura posted 13 clean sheets and conceded an average of .75 goals a game (21 in 28).
The three goalkeepers that were statistically better according to those metrics were Johan Dahlin of FF Malmo, Isak Pettersson of Nörkopping, and Oskar Linnér of AIK. All of whom have been capped by the Swedish national team and whose teams were involved in a tight race for the Allsvenskan title.
Kaddoura’s spectacular season should attract suitor in the second and even first tier of Swedish football. From a national team perspective, any doubts as to his ability can no longer be raised and there should be pressure on the coaching staff to hand him a call up and a run of games to establish himself as a competitor to Rami Hamadi’s spot in between the posts.
After spending his entire footballing life at Landskorna BoIS this might be the time for a change of scenery. The 25 year old’s contract is up at the end of the year at which point he will join fellow Sweden based players Mahmoud Eid and Ahmad Awad in the free agency market.
