Adnan Al Sharqi

Al Sharqi joined Ansar aged 10; they obtained their official license in 1954, and he played for their youth team. A winger, in 1957 he played his first senior match for Ansar aged 15 against Massis in the Lebanese Second Division, and became a first-team player the following year. In 1965, Al Sharqi was due to join Safa, but joined Nejmeh instead due to bureaucratic issues. He played only four games, two friendlies and two official matches. In 1965, Al Sharqi moved to Cairo, Egypt to study physical education at the Helwan University; he was forced to return to Beirut one year later following the death of his father. In the first half of the 1966–67 season, Al Sharqi played for Salam Achrafieh. He left the club in January 1967, moving to Olympic Club in Alexandria, Egypt for a short stint. Al Sharqi returned to Ansar in the Second Division as a player-coach prior to the end of the season, leading them to promotion to the Lebanese Premier League for the first time. He remained at Ansar as a player-coach in their first Premier League years, retiring as a player in 1975.

Al Sharqi first played for the Lebanon national team at the 1963 Mediterranean Games in Italy; he was the first footballer playing in the Lebanese Second Division to be called up to the national team. Al Sharqi also represented Lebanon at the 1966 Arab Cup, scoring two goals in a 2–1 win over Kuwait on 5 April 1966.

Al Sharqi coached Ansar between 1967 and 2000, and during the 2004–05 season. He won 11 league titles in a row, becoming the coach to have won the most league titles in the world. He also won eight cup titles, as well as various other domestic cups. Al Sharqi was named AFC Coach of the Month for July 1995. Al Sharqi also coached the Lebanon national team in various periods spanning between 1974 and 2008, coaching for 11 years. He was Lebanon's coach in their first World Cup qualification campaign, in 1993. After two wins, two losses and four draws, Lebanon finished third in their group and were eliminated.

Born on 15 November 1941 in Beirut, Lebanon, Al Sharqi grew up in the Tariq El Jdideh district. He used to play football with his friends in the hills and fields in the area.