Hakim Sahabo is a 2005 born midfielder who represents the Rwandan NT since November 2022 at the young age of 17 years old. Rwanda is a tiny country in Africa that hasn’t delivered a lot of players in the past with a population of around 13 million inhabitants. This being said, I think Sahabo has the qualities to become not just a great Rwandan player, but the best Rwandan player in history.
Hakim started his career in France in the 21/22 season playing for Lille U19 and the second team. He debuted for Lille U19 at just 16 years old in a Coupe Gambardella (U19) match with a goal winning the match 1-3. After that, he started in 7 matches for the U19 side and played 8 games for Lille B, only two in the starting lineup. He also played with the U17 side with 19 games and scoring 9 goals.
In the 22/23 season he played 21 matches for Lille U19, starting 14 out of those matches. He managed to score 3 goals across the season and since this season he’s never scored again.
The next season he signed for Standard Liège in what would become he’s best season yet. He played for SL 16 FC (the second team) 14 matches, 10 as a starter, until December when he was promoted to the first team. With the first team, he started in 5 matches and was subbed on in another 4 in the regular season. In the playoffs he played 6 games from the beginning and entered three games in an unsuccessful run of games with zero victories. He managed to get 2 assists for the second team.
This season seemed like he was going to be a key player for the team but started with a knee injury from the first 4 matches. He didn’t play any match for the first team and struggled to play for the second team, relegated from the second division, with only 8 appearances out of 17. He was loaned in January to Beerschot the bottom of the league team. It revived his career as he has featured in five matches out of six and has achieved an assist in his last match.
With the NT he’s played 5 times in qualifiers to the WC and to the AFCON failing to qualify in both competitions as usual for Rwanda. He didn’t participate in the last qualifiers of the AFCON, which was a huge error to both Hakim and Rwanda.
Nevertheless, we must remember he’s still 19 years old and with these stats he could arise to the starting eleven next season for Standard Liège or even try his luck in a top five league. For me, he’s already the best Rwandan player ever and this is just the beginning of his career. Remember his name and keep an eye on him.
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