Mohammad Al-Sahlawi

Mohammad Al-Sahlawi
Personal information
Full nameMohammad Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Sahlawi
Date of birth10 January 1987
Place of birthHofuf, Saudi Arabia
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Al-Nassr
Number10
Youth career
2003–2005Al-Qadisiya
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2005–2009Al-Qadisiya66(31)
2008→ Al-Fateh (loan)4(1)
2009–Al-Nassr132(78)
National team‡
2006–2007Saudi Arabia U-206(5)
2007–2008Saudi Arabia U-2311(2)
2009–Saudi Arabia19(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 30 October 2014 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2015

Mohammad Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Sahlawi (Arabic: محمد ابراهيم محمد السهلاوي; born January 10, 1987‎) is a Saudi Arabian football player. He plays in the position of striker. He played for Al-Qadisiyah as a striker from 2003 to 2009. On 1 June 2009, he moved to Al-Nassr for $8,500,000.

Club career

Early years

His father died when he was young and his mother raised him with his brothers, he was playing for a small team called Al-Faisaly then he moved to a bigger club in Al Houfuf called Al-Ta'awoon. He began to gain fame in Al-Ta'awoon when he was just 15 years old and he attracted the attention of clubs to him, but his family's desire was to complete his studies first. But this did not stop him from continuing to improve and this attracted attention to him more strongly than ever. In 2002 he went for a trial in Al-Hilal where he spent a full week and he convinced everyone that saw him that he was going to be the next big thing in Saudi Football. However, he didn't convince the coach at the time.

Al-Qadisiya

A year later, Al-Sahlawi was 17 years old when his talent started to complete maturity which was clear, during his participation in "Karkiz" Championship what made Adel Body (the administrative of Al-Qadisiya Handball) register him in Al-Qadisiya because he was afraid that another club could catch him. so he signed for SR40,000 and a car. After only two seasons, specifically in the 2006–07 season (when Yasser Al-Qahtani moved to Al-Hilal with the largest deal ever at that time), Sahlawi broke into the first team squad so he had to assume responsibility of Al-Qadisiya attack alongside his team mate Yousef Al-Salem. The team was living in a very hard time after they lose too many players alongside others administrative problems that was going to lead them to the first division, but they end the season in a safe position. But the problems returned after one season which made Al-Qadisiya living the worst phase ever in the history of the club especially with the Portuguese manager Olenho that Al-Sahlawi experienced difficult periods with him because he was keeping him on the bench, while in the same time he was leading the Saudi Olympic team. And despite the dismissal of Olenho and contracting with the local manager Al-Ajlani but the team eventually fell to the first division

After Al-Qadisiya fell to the first division and the departure of most of the star players in the team. Al-Sahlawi has been lent to Al-Fateh and played 5 matches there scoring only one goal. And despite the offers he received he was committed to his words to the fans and the eventually returned to Al-Qadisiya. He promise himself that he well bring back Al-Qadisiya to where they belong and he did what he promised himself and the fans by scoring 18 goals and he made more than 8 goals for his team mates. At the end of the season he signed a new deal with Al-Qadisiya for 3 years in a fee of SR3,000,000 which is the largest deal in Al-Qadisiya history. Despite that he was the Top Goalscorer in Saudi First Division and his best season Al-Qadsiya but eventually It was his last season in the club.

Al-Nassr

He moved to Al-Nassr in 2009 for SR32,000,000 (more than 8 million dollars) which broke Yasser Al-Qahtani number and considered as the biggest deal ever in Saudi football history. The story began in 2008–09 when Al-Qadisiya received a big offer from Al-Nassr for Mohammad Al-Sahlawi but they said that they would like to talk about it after Al-Qadisiya moved to Premier League. A meeting between Al-Hazaa (Al-Qadisiya President) and Mohammad Al-Sahlawi and he told him about the offer and they couldn't refuse it because the financial problem that the club have. A few days later It has been officially announced thet the deal done for SR32,000,000 ($25,000,000 for the club and 8,000,000 for the player).

Al-Sahlawi in his first season with Al-Nassr scored 21 goals in 36 match, Also he received the Young Player of the Year award from STC.

In 2015, he was selected as one of the world's best top goalscorers by the IFFHS.[1]

International career

2006 AFC Youth Championship

Al-Sahlawi scored his first goal for the national team in the 2006 AFC Youth Championship against Iraq U-20 in the 52nd minute. The game ended in a draw with a score of 2–2. His second came against Malaysia U-20 within 13 minutes, and they won with a score of 2–0, although they lost in the quarter-finals against Japan U-20 1 goal to 2.

International goals

U-20

U-23

Senior team

As of 30 March 2015 vs.  Jordan[2]
Score and Result list Saudi Arabia's goal tally first
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1. 29 May 2010 Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, Austria  Spain
2–2
2–3
Friendly
2. 28 July 2011 Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Siu Sai Wan, Hong Kong  Hong Kong
4–0
5–0
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3. 22 June 2012 King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia  Kuwait
1–0
4–0
2012 Arab Nations Cup
4.
4–0
5. 14 January 2015 Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia  North Korea
2–1
4–1
2015 AFC Asian Cup
6.
3–1
7. 18 January 2015 Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia  Uzbekistan
1–1
1–3
2015 AFC Asian Cup
8. 30 March 2015 Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam, Saudi Arabia  Jordan
1–0
2–1
Friendly
9.
2–1

Honours

Al-Qadisiyah
Al-Nassr

References

  1. ↑ "Ranking 1.1.2015 – 28.2.2015 : THE WORLD’S BEST TOP GOALSCORER". http://www.iffhs.de''. IFFHS. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "Mohammad Al-Sahlawi Matches". Soccerway. September 2009.