Ali Al-Habsi

Ali Al-Habsi

Al-Habsi playing for Reading in 2016
Personal information
Full name Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi[1]
Date of birth (1981-12-30) 30 December 1981[1]
Place of birth Al-Mudhaibi, Oman
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Al-Hilal
Number 26
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Al-Mudhaibi ? (?)
2002–2003 Al-Nasr ? (?)
2003–2006 Lyn Oslo 62 (0)
2006–2011 Bolton Wanderers 10 (0)
2010–2011 → Wigan Athletic (loan) 34 (0)
2011–2015 Wigan Athletic 102 (0)
2014 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 1 (0)
2015–2017 Reading 78 (0)
2017– Al-Hilal 0 (0)
National team‡
2002– Oman 118 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:55, 11 May 2017 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:12, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi (Arabic: علي بن عبد الله بن حارب الحبسي‎‎; born 30 December 1981) is an Omani professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi club Al-Hilal FC and captains the Oman national team.

Club career

Early career

Al-Habsi was born in Oman and started his early career in the country, racking up appearances before his move.

Bolton Wanderers

His transfer from Lyn Oslo to Bolton Wanderers in January 2006 was a transfer highlighted in the Stevens inquiry report, in June 2007. The report expressed concerns because of the apparent conflict of interest between agent Craig Allardyce, his father Sam Allardyce – and the club itself.[2]

Al-Habsi did not make any first team appearances in his first year at Bolton. Al-Habsi made his full Bolton debut in the 2–1 extra time League Cup victory over Fulham in September 2007.

Al-Habsi then went on to make a further 15 appearances during the course of the 2007/08 season, most notably his performance against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup against whom he produced several good saves against the star studded German team. He made his first Premier League start against Wigan Athletic.[3] In December 2008, he was rewarded for his work with an extension to his contract until 2013. Despite this, Al-Habsi lost his place when Jussi Jääskeläinen returned from injury.

Wigan Athletic (loan)

Al-Habsi training with Wigan Athletic in 2011

In July 2010, Al-Habsi joined local rivals Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan.[4] He made his debut on 24 August 2010 in a League Cup match against Hartlepool United[5] and made his League debut four days later against Tottenham Hotspur. He was named Wigan's player of the season for the 2010–11 season.[6]

Wigan Athletic

On the 4 July 2011 Al-Habsi joined the club permanently, signing a four-year contract for an estimated £4 million transfer fee from Bolton.[7] Al-Habsi established himself as an outstanding penalty saver, saving approximately 50% of all the penalties he faced since joining Wigan. Robin van Persie, Carlos Tevez, Javier Hernández and Mikel Arteta are among the penalty takers Al-Habsi has stopped. This earnt him links to Liverpool and Arsenal.[8] During the back end of the 2012–13 season, Al-Habsi was dropped to the bench as his position as Wigan's number one was threatened by the arrival of the athletic, young Spaniard Joel Robles on loan.[9] The following season after being on the bench for Wigan's FA Cup win over Manchester City, Wigan were relegated back to the championship.

Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)

On 31 October 2014, Al-Habsi signed for fellow Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on a one-month loan.[10] After playing only one game for the club, Al-Habsi returned to his parent club Wigan.

Reading

Following his release from Wigan Athletic, Al-Habsi went on trial with Reading in July 2015.[11] This ended in Al-Habsi signing a two-year contract with the club on 14 July 2015.[12] On 5 January 2017, Al-Habsi extended his contract with Reading until the end of the 2018-19 season.[13]

2016–2017

On 17 March 2017, Al-Habsi made several crucial saves in a 2-0 victory against playoff rivals Sheffield Wednesday. This performance and others throughout the season saw Al-Habsi named in the EFL Championship team of the season and awarded the Reading player of the season award.

Al-Hilal

On 17 July 2017, Al-Habsi moved to Al-Hilal for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract.[14]

International career

Al-Habsi began playing in his native country Oman at the age of seventeen, and joined the ranks of the Oman under-19s squad, before he was spotted by John Burridge in 2001. Due to the difficulty of securing a work permit, he was unable to move to Europe at this early stage of his career.

He was called up for Oman, and played in all of their three group matches at the 2004 AFC Asian Cup in China and also made four appearances for the team in their qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which they exited in the first group stage after finishing second in a group with Japan, India and Singapore. He was also Oman's first-choice goalkeeper at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, appearing in all of their three group matches.[15]

Al-Habsi also has appeared as main keeper in four consecutive Gulf Cups. In each tournament he earned the award for best goalkeeper, most recently at the 2009 Gulf Cup of Nations. He kept a clean sheet throughout the 2009 tournament that Oman eventually won. He earned his 100th cap with Oman in a 0–4 loss to Australia in 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Personal life

Al-Habsi is a practising Muslim.[16] and says that his faith plays a big part in his life.[17] He is also married and has three daughters.

After finishing high school,[18] he was a fireman in the Seeb International Airport in Muscat.[19] In an interview with Al-Jazeera Sports, Al-Habsi accredited his previous profession with teaching him patience, hard work and patriotism.[20] In another interview with AMF, he says that if he had not played professional football, he would have most likely continued with being a fireman.[21]

Al-Habsi is the co-founder of Safety First, a non-profit road safety organisation in Oman that seeks to decrease car accident fatalities in the country.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 29 May 2017[23][24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lyn 2003 Tippeligaen 13030-20-180
2004 24040---280
2005 25020---270
Total 62090--20--730
Bolton Wanderers 2005–06 Premier League 00000000-00
2006–07 000000--00
2007–08 100101040-160
2008–09 000000--00
2009–10 001010--20
2010–11 000000--00
Total 10020204000180
Wigan Athletic (loan) 2010–11 Premier League 3402040––400
Wigan Athletic 2011–12 Premier League 3801010––400
2012–13 2902030––340
2013–14 Championship 2404000–00280
2014–15 1101010––130
Total 10208050--001550
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 2014–15 Championship 100000––10
Reading 2015–16 Championship 3205030––400
2016–17 4601010–30510
Total 7806040--30910
Career total 287027015060303380

International

Oman national team
YearAppsGoals
200210
2003110
2004160
200500
200650
2007140
2008100
2009110
201040
201190
201280
201330
2014100
2015140
201620
Total1180

Statistics accurate as of match played 29 March 2016[24]

Honours

Club

FK Lyn Oslo
Wigan Athletic
National Team

Individual awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. ↑ "What Stevens said about each club". London: www.telegraph.co.uk. 16 June 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  3. ↑ Goal.com – Asia – Ali Al-Habsi Focused On Bolton Survival
  4. ↑ "Latics sign goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi on loan for the season". 15 July 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  5. ↑ "Hartlepool 0–3 Wigan". BBC Sport. 24 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 August 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Al Habsi Signs Permanent Deal at Wigan". 4 July 2011.
  8. ↑ Law, Matt (17 November 2012). "Arsenal will rival Liverpool for Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi". Mirror. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Wigan sign Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Joel Robles on loan". BBC Sport. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Ali Al-Habsi: Brighton sign Wigan goalkeeper on loan". BBC Sport. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Breaking news: Al-Habsi training with Royals". http://www.readingfc.co.uk/. Reading F.C. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  12. ↑ "Ali Al-Habsi signs for Royals". http://www.readingfc.co.uk/. Reading FC. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  13. ↑ "Ali signs new Royals deal!". readingfc.co.uk. Reading F.C. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  14. ↑ "Al Habsi completes move to Al-Hilal". readingfc.co.uk. Reading F.C. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ Ronay, Barney (9 December 2011). "Ali al-Habsi of Wigan Athletic is a goalkeeper with a difference". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  17. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpk-dQQsOEY - AMF interview
  18. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bQj5YD5lZo - 6:30 -- Al-Jazeera interview
  19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bQj5YD5lZo - 6:35 -- Al-Jazeera interview
  20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bQj5YD5lZo - 6:50 -- Al-Jazeera interview
  21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpk-dQQsOEY - 6:30 -- AMF interview
  22. ↑ Mrudu Naik (23 May 2012). "Sport stars blow the bugle of road safety". Times of Oman. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  23. ↑ "Ali Al-Habsi". soccerway.com.
  24. 1 2 "Ali Al-Habsi". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  25. ↑ "British Muslim Awards 2015 finalists unveiled". Asian Image. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
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