| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mohamed Saqr Ahmed | ||
| Date of birth | May 17, 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Dakar, Senegal[1] | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Al Sadd | ||
| Number | 30 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000-2003 | Al Khor | 37 | (-42) |
| 2003-present | Al Sadd | 134 | (-129) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004- | Qatar | 79 | (-73) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 December 2009. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Mohamed Saqr Ahmed (born on May 17, 1981) is a Qatari footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for 12-time time Qatar Stars League champions Al Sadd. In 2011, Saqr was a vital part of the Al Sadd squad that was crowned Champions of Asia after winning the 2011 AFC Champions League. Saqr is also a member of the Qatar national team.
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Saqr played for the Qatar national team squad in the 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations which was held on home soil. He succeeded in winning the trophy for his country, as he saved three penalty kicks, which led Qatar to the 2nd Gulf Cup of Nations trophy in their history on the end of a 6-5 penalty shoot-out against Oman.
Saqr played in the 2011 AFC Champions League with Al Sadd, eventually going on to win the title. He received much praise for his performance in the final against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, in which he made many key saves during the 120 minutes, as well as two crucial saves during the penalty shoot-outs which his team won 4-2. Al Sadd's manager, Jorge Fosatti, expressed that he thought that Jeonbuk's misses had more to do with Mohammed's good saves rather than them taking bad shots.[2] Saqr attracted world-wide attention for his stellar performance, being voted "World Player of the Week" on November 7 by Goal.com.[3] He also won "Fan's Man of the Match" and received a mention by FIFA in the match article for his "goalkeeping heroics", describing him as arguably the most valuable player of the night.[4]
The stunning champions league victory took Al Sadd to the FIFA Club World Cup. There, Al Sadd was pitted against Espérance, the champions of Africa, whom they defeated 2-1. Al Sadd were drawn against eventual winners Barcelona in the semi-final. Saqr had a consequential misunderstanding with Nadir Belhadj, which allowed Adriano to run the ball into the net. Saqr made several more errors in the game, allowing Barcelona to score 3 additonal goals in order to settle the score 4-0.
Al Sadd would then face Kashiwa Reysol in the third-place match. It was the first time that two clubs from the same federation faced off eachother in a third-place match. After a good display by Saqr, the game went straight to a penalty shoot-out with the score 0-0. Saqr yet again proved to be the hero in the penalty shoot-outs, making a superb diving save to deny Hayashi. The shoot-outs ended 5-3 in favour of Al Sadd, and was the first time a West Asian club had earned a bronze medal in the competition.[5]
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