Tamer Modrem

Tamer Modrem

Modrem with Crécy in 2008.
Personal information
Full name	Tamer Modrem
Year of birth	1991
Place of birth	Crécy, Alexandria
Height	1.76m
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Eĵars Town FC
Number	8
Youth career
2006–07	Olympique Crécionnais
2007	Port Rackham Rangers
Senior career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)*
2007	Port Rackham Rangers
2007–08	New Luanda FC
2008–10	Olympique Crécionnais
2010–16	FC Fiorecittà
2016–	Eĵars Town FC
International career
2008–17	Alexandria
2017–19	Caputia
2019–	Alduria
* Appearances (Goals) Player has received at least one call-up for any emboldened national teams

Tamer Modrem is a Alexandrian-born Aldurian footballer of Matbaic descent, who currently plays for Eĵars Town FC. A former captain of the junior national teams, Modrem was a prominent member of the Alexandrian national side until their demise, having represented the nation in every World Cup between 2008 and 2017.

Background

Modrem was born in Crécy, in the Ibelin region of Alexandria to a Matbaic father and an Alexandrian mother of Babkhan descent. At the age of 5, his family moved to Matbaa as his father returned to the nation for work, with the family settling in Beth Saanar, picking up street football as an 8 year old. By the age of 10, Modrem was sent by his parents to study in Alexandria, studying at the Geneva International School. During this time, he represented the school football team, becoming captain by the age of 15, when he was spotted by scouts from Olympique Créçois and Franciscania Athletic. After trialling for both sides, he opted to sign youth contracts for Crécy, citing his reason as wanting to return to his birthplace.

Modrem also has two younger siblings, Kerem (who also represented Alexandria at junior level) and Yaqub (commonly referred to as Jacques Modrem, currently playing for Crécy and the Mahoz national team).

Club career

Signing for Crécy as a youngster, Modrem started playing as a attacking midfielder, before being deployed on the left wing where he was able to cut in attack the goal. During his early years, many of the staff at the club cited Modrem for his ability to dribble past players, as well as his reading of the game to find space on the pitch. Despite lacking in size, the midfielder managed to win plaudits for his technical ability as a footballer, leading to pundits to tout him as Alexandria's next rising star.

Performances in the youth ranks at Crécy resulted in attention from foreign clubs, with Port Rackham Rangers being a prominent team leading the chase for the 16 year old's signature. In 2007, Modrem joined the Riponian club on a free youth transfer, with Port Rackham paying Crécy a small compensation fee to the Alexandrian club. His reputation grew further, with media across Micras dubbing him as the next Sébastien Focán, then Port Rackham and Alexandrian captain, also being of Matbaic descent.

Although signing as a youth player, Modrem quickly raised through the ranks and made the first team. Having only played a handful of games, Modrem then transferred to New Luanda for an undisclosed fee. Signing for New Luanda, Modrem was poised to play a prominent role for the club, with manager Marc Evans aiming to partner the attacking midfielder with striker Kwesi Themba. However, his time at New Luanda was cut short with the dissolution of Kavalos, and the player returned back to Alexandria to join Crécy on a free transfer.

Returning to Crécy, Modrem was re-united with his brother Kerem, as well as Port Rackham midfielders Cesc Xavi and Gonzalo Mascaroni. Through these years, Crécy retained a strong status in Alexandria, often seen as the dominant team throughout the nation. Following the 2 years of his contract, Modrem decided to buy out his final year and paved way for a transfer to the Tellian Serie A, joining FC Fiorecittà. During an interview in 2011, he stated, "It was an honour to play for my home team in Crécy, but the Tellian Serie A is a bigger challenge and FC Fiorecittà is a big club that you can't turn down if they are interested in you."

Upon his arrival, he was handed the number 10 shirt, competing with Kim Yong-Woo for the attacking midfield role. Following displays of technical dribbling and linking up well with Anthony Denoix-Moreau, the Alexandrian became an instant hit with fans. In 2012, following the retirement of Vincenzo Motta, Modrem was appointed captain ahead of the 2013 season.

Modrem moved to Craitish club Eĵars Town FC in 2016 for a fee of Cr 42 million.

International career

Being born in Alexandria of Matbaic and Babkhan descent, Modrem was able to choose to represent either Matbaa, Babkha or Alexandria in the early stages of his careers. At the age of 16, he opted to play for Alexandria, accepting a call up to the Alexandrian Under 17 team, eventually becoming captain of the side.

In 2008, Modrem was called up to the senior squad at the age of 17, following displays in the short-lived New Luanda FC team. He made his first competitive début against Toketi during the Group Stages of the 2008 FMF World Cup, coming on as a substitute. He went on to score in both Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals of the tournament, narrowly missing out on Young Player of the tournament award, being runner-up behind Łukasz Dąbrowski.

As Alexandria hosted the World Cup in 2009, Modrem was part of the World Cup winning team, although his prominence was less noted as his appearances was limited with captain Sébastien Focán preferred in the attacking midfield role. Following the tournament, Modrem was handed the number 8 shirt due to Focán's retirement, once again reiterating the fact that Alexandrians expected him to take over the star player status from his former team-mate. The following World Cup was less to be desired, with Alexandria crashing out of the Group Stages. With the return of Sébastien Focán in 2011, Modrem resigned the number 8 shirt, handing back to Focán, opting to take the number 10 shirt (the same number which he wore for FC Fiorecittà). 2011 resulted in disappointment after crashing out on penalty shootout to Shireroth, with both Focán and Modrem missing their penalties.

2012 saw the return at number 8, with Modrem starting out as the attacking midfielder in a 4-4-2 diamond formation for manager Didier Lozach. Following injury to Álexis Carrasco in the 2012 FMF World Cup, Modrem was then deployed as a striker, alongside Florent Lassana-Traoré. Scoring 1 goal in the tournament and starting in every game for Alexandria, the side reached the final, only to lose on penalties, with Modrem successfully converting his penalty.

Modrem scored two goals in the 2013 FMF World Cup on the way to Alexandria finishing in third place, and found the net once in 2014 as the team could only make the quarter-finals. Following another quarter-final defeat in 2015, Modrem played a key role in helping Alexandria to third place in 2017, scoring once.

Modrem has also represented the Alexandrian team in CiboTap tournaments, winning the tournament four times.

Upon Alexandria's death in 2017, Modrem gained eligibility to represent Caputia, doing so at EMU 2018 where he helped the team to second place in their début competitive appearance.

Style of play

Although dubbed by media as the next Sébastien Focán on several occasions, Modrem's playing style is known to be considerably different to his Alexandrian number 8 predecessor. Standing at only 176 centimetres tall (5ft9), he lacks physical presence and height compared to many opponents; however manages to use quick footwork and pace to overcome opponents.

Modrem's natural position has been an attacking midfielder playing behind strikers, being able to attack opponents' defensive line from a deeper position, as well as using vision to seek out potential through balls to strikers.

During his career, Modrem has also been deployed as a winger and a forward, where his close control and dribbling can be seen more visibly, also having the ability to pace past the last defender, which poses an attacking threat in a different role to what is usually seen.

Honours

Alexandria

• FMF World Cup (1): 2009
• CiboTap Championships (4): 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014

FC Fiorecittà

• Tellian Serie A (3): 2011, 2012, 2016

Eĵars Town FC

• FMF Champions' League (1): 2019
• WMFA Champions' League (1): 2020–21
• CrFA League 1 (1): 2019