Sebastián Soria

Andrés Sebastián Soria Quintana (Arabic: أندريس سيبستيان سوريا كوينتانا‎, born in Paysandú, Uruguay), is a naturalized Qatari footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar SC.

Club career

Early career

Soria originally had a 2-week trial at Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting in Montevideo as a youngster, however they subsequently rejected Soria, and he returned home.

Soria continued playing in the minor leagues and a new, unlikely chance soon emerged, rewarding the youngster's persistence. In 2001, a cyclist, who had watched Soria playing in the minor leagues and was impressed by his talents, brought him to the attention of a football agent he knew, and Soria was sent to Montevideo to play in Liverpool de Montevideo and trained under Julio Ribas. He was sent to the reserve team for a brief while before making it back on the first team. He eventually proved his value and ended up playing the rest of the 2003 season on the first team.

In mid-2004, Soria got an offer from Frenchman Bruno Metsu to play for Al-Gharafa in Qatar. He had to look Qatar up on a map as he was unsure of where it was located. Nevertheless, at a time when opportunities to leave Uruguay for the European leagues were scarce, Soria jumped at the chance despite the geographical uncertainty. He arrived in Qatar in 2004 and was naturalized in 2006. ^[1]

Al Gharafa

Soria joined Al Gharafa in 2004 under the supervision of Bruno Metsu. It was the first time he had played outside of Uruguay. Soria ended up winning the 2004-05 Qatar Stars League season with Al Gharafa.

Qatar SC

Soria transferred to Qatar SC from league winners Al Gharafa in 2005. In 2009, he won the Qatar Crown Prince Cup with Qatar SC.

The Qatar SC star has attracted interest from Europe, with Italian team Udinese as well as Spanish capital sides Getafe and Atletico Madrid scouting for his services in the past couple of years. But after much consideration, Soria chose to extend his contract with his Qatari club team.^[2]

AC Milan vs Al Sadd

When AC Milan came to visit Doha in March 2009, in a farewell match for Jafal Rashed Al-Kuwari, the Qatar Sports Club striker was promptly added to the Al Sadd squad for a single game, a practice unheard of elsewhere.

"They invited me to play for Al Sadd, so of course I said yes. I like to play against the strong defenders," Soria said after his tussles with Milan defender Philippe Senderos. After being substituted, Soria was swamped by local fans and patiently signed autographs for approximately 15 minutes.

Club career statistics

Statistics accurate as of 21 August 2011^[3]

¹Includes Emir of Qatar Cup.

²Includes Sheikh Jassem Cup.

³Includes AFC Champions League.

International career

He played for Qatar U-23 team, as in 2006 Asian Games, but some sources claim that he was actually born in 1980, but listed in Asian Games site as 1988. The official Qatar SC website has him listed as being born in 1984. In addition, QFA's website lists his actual date of birth as 1983.^[4]

Soria saved the Qatari national team by scoring in the last 20 minutes, which helped tie the score. This happened in the AFC 2007 in both their games, one against Japan, and the other just recently against Vietnam. He also scored the leading goal against the United Arab Emirates. He is the only Qatari player to score on the 2007 Asian Cup. He scored three goals.

Soria scored a goal against eventual winners Japan in the 2011 Asian Cup quarterfinals but the homeside were silenced after a late goal from Inoha put Japan in the lead to win by a 3-2 victory.

International goals

Honors

Individual

• QFA Player of the Season: 2005-06
• Asian Footballer of the Year 3rd Place: 2008

Club

• Al Gharafa
  • Qatar Stars League: 2005
  • Sheikh Jassem Cup: 2005

• Qatar SC
  • Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2009

References

External links

• Al Jazeera English Interview: Sebastian Soria
• Sebastián Soria – FIFA competition record
• Sebastian Soria :: Official Site