Tarek Elrich

Early career

Elrich played youth football at a number of clubs, including Parramatta Eagles in the NSW Premier Youth League, and Sydney Olympic in the NSW Premier League.

Newcastle Jets

Elrich debuted in the A-League during the 2005–06 season, where which he only made three league appearances. Elrich again only made a handful of league appearances (five) during the 2006–07 season as Newcastle finished in third place on the A-League ladder. He scored his first A-League goal in the 2007–08 season during Newcastle's 3–2 preliminary final extra-time win against Queensland Roar on 17 February 2008. Elrich scored in the 111th minute. Newcastle went on to eventually beat Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the final and qualify for the 2009 AFC Champions League. During the 2007–08 season, Elrich faced his brother, Ahmad Elrich, in a 2–1 home victory against Wellington Phoenix on 14 October 2007. Elrich scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season in a 2–2 home draw against Wellington Phoenix on 6 October 2008. One month later, he scored his second goal of the 2008–09 season in a 2–2 away draw against Perth Glory on 9 November 2008. Having increased his appearances during the 2007–08 season and 2008–09 season, he attracted the attention of then, Australian national team coach Pim Verbeek, who included Elrich in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match in January 2009. Elrich debuted in the 2009 AFC Champions League in a 2–0 away defeat against Beijing Guoan on 10 March.…

Australia U20

Elrich debuted for the Australia national under-20 team in a 3–0 win against Turkmenistan during a 2006 AFC Youth Championship qualification match on 22 February 2006. Australia finished in first position of their respective group and qualified for the 2006 AFC Youth Championship. Elrich then received a call up to a 20-man Australia U20 national team squad for a five-match tour of South America in August 2006. He participated in matches against Colo-Colo U20, Universidad de Chile U20, Chile U20 and Argentina U20. The South American tour was preparation for the 2006 AFC Youth Championship, the qualification campaign for the eventual 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Australia

Elrich was called up to the Australia national team for a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Indonesia. Wearing the number #69 shirt, he was an unused substitute in the 0–0 draw in Jakarta on 28 January 2009.

Lebanon

After accepting an invitation from the Lebanese Football Federation to play for the Lebanon national football team, Elrich eventually debuted for Lebanon in a non-official friendly match against Lebanese Premier League club Al-Akhaa Al-Ahli Aley on 20 April 2012. The match was preparation for an international friendly scheduled for 17 May against Jordan, where Lebanon would prepare for the AFC fourth round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Elrich became the third Australian-born player to represent Lebanon, after Michael Reda (1999–2000) and…

Elrich grew up in Auburn, Sydney, and is of Lebanese descent. His brother Ahmad is also an international footballer. Tarek attended Granville Boys High School.

Newcastle Jets

A-League Championship: 2007–08 Western Sydney Wanderers

A-League Premiership: 2012–13 Adelaide United

A-League Championship: 2015–16 A-League Premiership: 2015–16 FFA Cup: 2014 Australia

AFF U-20 Youth Championship: 2006 Individual

PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2008–09, 2014–15 A-League Goal of the Year: 2014–15 Adelaide United FC Player’s Player - A-League: 2014–15 Adelaide United FC Remo Paris Club Person: 2014–15, 2015–16