You’d expect an interview with a footballer to start with some statistics that illustrates the feats of the player. Of course, Ammar Ramadan, who plays for DAC 1904, has had impressive displays in the game recently. The 22-year-old has just scored the first hat-trick of his senior career just days before sitting down for this interview.
But our conversation starts with numbers of a different kind. Hailing from Syria, the attacking midfielder talks about how the people of his country have suffered for over a decade. According to estimates, 306,887 civilians – 1.5 percent of the total population – were killed till March 2021 in the conflict that began in 2011.
It did not take long for the pro-democracy protests against President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government’s violent response to turn into a full-blown civil war, which was further complicated by the involvement of extremist jihadist organisations such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Born in the Syrian city of Jableh, but now living far away from the conflict zones, Ramadan knows how fortunate he is to have escaped the civil war and chase his dream of being a footballer in Europe.
“Everyone around the world knows that Syrians have suffered a lot in the 12 years of war,” said Ramadan, who is the son of former Syria international Munaf Ramadan.
Munaf, a forward who played football for clubs in Syria and Kuwait during the 1980s and 90s, fled Syria with his family in October 2015 after finding life really difficult in the war-torn country. Ramadan, who was 15 years old at that time, had his life uprooted and planted in the completely different surroundings of Lombardy, Italy.
“It was extremely difficult for anybody to get out of Syria at that time, but me and my family somehow managed to do it. Not everyone was lucky to do so. In fact, we decided to go to Italy because it was the only option that was available in front of us,” Ramadan reminisced.
The teenager arrived in Italy but was unable to register for clubs due to lack of necessary documents and it took him months to finally sign for Cimiano Calcio – during which time his father helped him in training.
“For me, it was a bit difficult at first to adapt to the new life, culture and of course people,” he said.
“But I think I have the right personality to overcome such challenges. But then there were the issues with the paperwork. We faced a lot of problems because of the passport and not having documents after fleeing Syria.”
Ramadan’s persistence was rewarded when the giants of Italian football came knocking on his doors.
Scoring thirteen goals in five games for Cimiano in Lombardy’s Giovanissimi Regionali A, the youngster became one of the hottest prospects in Italy, playing both on the wings and in the centre of the midfield and attracting interests from clubs including AC Milan and Juventus.
It was Juventus who ultimately won the signature of Ramadan and the Syrian became the first from his country to play for the Bianconeri’s U-17 team.
“Juve is a big and famous football club, so it was a huge and important step in my life at a time when I was taking my first steps in Italy,” Ramadan said.
“I played with current first team members like Moise Kean, Fabio Miretti and Nicolo Fagioli and what I learned at Juventus, along with improving myself as a footballer, was to always be disciplined both on and off the pitch. But if you ask me, there are better academies than Juventus if you are a young player in Italy.”
Ramadan joined Hungary’s Ferencváros in 2019 and spent two seasons on loan at Soroksar and Slovakian side Spartak Trnava before signing permanently for his current club DAC, based in the city of Dunajska Streda in the south of Slovakia.
“My target has always been to be better and improve myself on a daily basis to achieve my dream of one day playing for the biggest clubs in the biggest leagues in the world,” Ramadan said.
“And I think DAC is the perfect place for me to try and have this development. It was a great club with great teammates and staff around me.”
He has established himself as a regular in Adrian Gula’s side and has begun his second season with DAC in spectacular fashion. After opening his account for the new campaign in a league win over Kosice at the start of August, Ramadan bagged his first senior hat-trick in a Slovak Cup second round win against Gabcikovo later in the month.
His good form in Slovakia also earned him a call-up to Syria’s senior national team, who are ranked 94th in the FIFA world rankings.
“Playing for my country is a huge honour and I have a lot of passion to do it,” said Ramadan who recently learned the opponents his country will face in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 scheduled to be held in Qatar at the start of the next year.
Ramadan’s Syria will face Uzbekistan in their Group B opener in Al Rayyan on January 13 before facing Australia – the third highest ranked team in Asia. They will then conclude their group stage campaign against India in Al Khor on January 23.
“I hope to do my best and make it to the team for the Asian Cup. I am waiting to play in the tournament with Syria. I know we have a difficult group, but we will fight as always to advance to the knockout stage,” said Ramadan who, however, admits there is much work to be done when it comes to the Qasioun Eagles.
“In my opinion, the current system with Syria has its faults because we are not planning for the future. I think it’s because we do not have a long term plan that our national team has not achieved much success,” he said.
“I think we need to start giving our 100 percent to change a lot of things which will help us take at least the first step in the right direction. We need to really look at ourselves and make real and serious long term plans. I feel we always plan for the short term. We don’t care much about the future and that is not how great teams are made.”
As for the nation and its people, Ramadan says he is hoping things return to normal in Syria soon, but he also realises peace may still be years away.
“Syria is in a difficult situation and it pains me. But I don’t see any light at least for the next few years. I only pray they will find a way to stop the fighting and make the Syrians feel safe again.”
Photos: IG/ammar_ra10
