 Elrich withWestern Sydney Wanderers in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tarek Elrich | ||
| Date of birth | (1987-01-01)1 January 1987 (age 38) | ||
| Place of birth | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Right back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Parramatta FC | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Parramatta Eagles | |||
| 2003–2005 | Sydney Olympic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2005 | Sydney Olympic | 2 | (0) |
| 2005–2012 | Newcastle Jets | 134 | (4) |
| 2012–2013 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 11 | (0) |
| 2013–2018 | Adelaide United | 101 | (3) |
| 2018–2020 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 32 | (2) |
| 2020 | Perth Glory | 10 | (0) |
| 2021–2023 | Mt Druitt Town Rangers | 64 | (0) |
| 2024– | Parramatta FC | 27 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2005–2006 | Australia U-20 | 12 | (1) |
| 2008 | Australia U-23 | 5 | (0) |
| 2015 | Australia | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 January 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 8 October 2015 | |||
Tarek Elrich (born 1 January 1987) is an Australian professionalsoccer player who plays as aright-back ormidfielder forParramatta FC inNSW League Two.[2]
Elrich started his senior career with local clubSydney Olympic, before moving to theNewcastle Jets in 2006. In 2012, he moved to new clubWestern Sydney Wanderers before moving again toAdelaide United one season later.
Tarek played youth football for Australia, before being called up to theLebanon national team in 2012. However, he was ruled to be ineligible, having been an unused substitute forAustralia in2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification. He was later called up forAustralia once again, and made his debut in early 2015.
Elrich grew up inAuburn, Sydney, and is ofLebanese descent. His brotherAhmad is also an international footballer. Tarek attended Granville Boys High School.
Elrich played youth football at a number of clubs, includingParramatta Eagles in the NSW Premier Youth League, andSydney Olympic in theNSW Premier League.
Elrich debuted in theA-League during the2005–06 season, where which he only made three league appearances. Elrich again only made a handful of league appearances (five) during the2006–07 season as Newcastle finished in third place on the A-League ladder. He scored his first A-League goal in the2007–08 season during Newcastle's 3–2 preliminary final extra-time win againstQueensland Roar on 17 February 2008. Elrich scored in the 111th minute. Newcastle went on to eventually beatCentral Coast Mariners 1–0 in the final and qualify for the2009 AFC Champions League.[3] During the 2007–08 season, Elrich faced his brother,Ahmad Elrich, in a 2–1 home victory againstWellington Phoenix on 14 October 2007.[4]
Elrich scored his first goal of the2008–09 season in a 2–2 home draw againstWellington Phoenix on 6 October 2008.[5] One month later, he scored his second goal of the 2008–09 season in a 2–2 away draw againstPerth Glory on 9 November 2008.[6] Having increased his appearances during the 2007–08 season and 2008–09 season, he attracted the attention of then,Australian national team coachPim Verbeek, who included Elrich in a2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match in January 2009.[7] Elrich debuted in the 2009 AFC Champions League in a 2–0 away defeat againstBeijing Guoan on 10 March.[8] He scored his first AFC Champions League goal in a 1–1 away draw againstNagoya Grampus on 7 April, scoring the first goal of the game after 9 minutes.[9][10] Elrich participated in all of Newcastle'sgroup stage fixtures as they finished in second position of their respective group. Newcastle qualified for theknockout stages where they were eventually eliminated in the round of 16 in a 6–0 away defeat toPohang Steelers on 24 June.[11]
Elrich went on to make 29 league appearances during the2009–10 season, where he received his first red card in the 90th minute of a 2–1 away defeat toSydney on 20 September 2009.[12] During the2011–12 season, Elrich received his second A-League red card in the 53rd minute of a 2–1 away defeat toMelbourne Victory on 7 January 2012.[13] Over one month later, Elrich scored the only goal in the 39th minute of a 1–0 home victory againstAdelaide United on 24 February 2012.[14] Newcastle finished the season in 7th position of the A-League ladder with 35 points. At the conclusion of the 2011–12,Perth Glory andSydney expressed interest in signing Elrich as Newcastle did not offer an extension to his contract.[15][16]
It was confirmed on 25 June 2012 that Elrich had signed with Western Sydney for the 2012–13 season. He was one of the club's first three signings, along withAaron Mooy andKwabena Appiah-Kubi.[17][18][19]
Elrich, along with teammatesDino Kresinger,Joey Gibbs andRocky Visconte were released by the Wanderers at the conclusion of the2012–13 A-League season.[20]
Following limited success with the Wanderers, Elrich was signed byAdelaide United for the 2013–14 season.[21] He won his first silverware with Adelaide as part of the2014 FFA Cup winning side.
In the 2014–15 A-League season, Elrich scored a fantastic solo goal againstMelbourne City in a 4–1 win with some pundits claiming the goal to be worthy of the yearly Puskas award.[22] After a fantastic season at right-back with the Reds, he was selected in the 2014–2015 PFA Team of the Year.
In recognition of his run of form, Elrich was awarded a 2-year contract extension on 29 September 2015 running through to the 2017–18 A-League season.[23]
After 5 years atAdelaide United, on 9 May 2018, Elrich left to return toWestern Sydney Wanderers, signing a two-year contract.[24] On 24 January 2020, the club announced his departure, his final game coming against the Perth Glory.[25]
Elrich then joined Perth Glory on an 18-month contract before the January transfer window shut,[26] going on to play 10 A-League games, finishing with a 2–0 loss in the finals series semi-final match againstSydney FC.[citation needed] Prior to the start of the2020–21 A-League season, Elrich left Perth via a mutual contract termination.[27]
In January 2021, Elrich joinedMt Druitt Town Rangers in theNational Premier Leagues NSW.[28]
In January 2024, Elrich joinedParramatta FC as their Head of Football.[29]
Elrich debuted for theAustralia national under-20 team in a 3–0 win againstTurkmenistan during a2006 AFC Youth Championship qualification match on 22 February 2006. Australia finished in first position of their respective group and qualified for the2006 AFC Youth Championship. Elrich then received a call up to a 20-man Australia U20 national team squad for a five-match tour ofSouth America in August 2006.[30] He participated in matches againstColo-Colo U20,Universidad de Chile U20,Chile U20 andArgentina U20. The South American tour was preparation for the2006 AFC Youth Championship, the qualification campaign for the eventual2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Elrich was called up to theAustralia national team for a2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match againstIndonesia. Wearing the number #69 shirt, he was an unused substitute in the 0–0 draw inJakarta on 28 January 2009.[31]
After accepting an invitation from theLebanese Football Federation to play for theLebanon national football team, Elrich eventually debuted for Lebanon in a non-officialfriendly match againstLebanese Premier League clubAl-Akhaa Al-Ahli Aley on 20 April 2012.[32] The match was preparation for an international friendly scheduled for 17 May againstJordan, where Lebanon would prepare for theAFC fourth round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[33] Elrich became the third Australian-born player to represent Lebanon, afterMichael Reda (1999–2000) andBuddy Farah (2000–2004).[34] Elrich, however, was not included inTheo Bucker's plans for the remainder of Lebanon's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. He was advised by FIFA in September 2012 that he was not eligible to represent Lebanon as he had been named in a match betweenAustralia andIndonesia in 2009. Suddenly, later FIFA accepted him to serve for Lebanon in 2013, the only reason being that he did not play in the match between Australia and Indonesia, and he was not recalled to Australia.[35]
On the back of a great season with Adelaide United, Tarek was called up to theAustralia national team camp for the friendly games againstGermany andMacedonia. Tarek made his full senior international debut for Australia on 30 March 2015 after being named in the starting 11 for the international friendly against Macedonia in Skopje.[36]
Newcastle Jets
Western Sydney Wanderers
Adelaide United
Australia
Individual