Yasser Al-Qahtani

Football player infobox
playername = Yasser Saeed Al Qahtani

| fullname = Yasser Al Qahtani
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|10|10
cityofbirth = Al Khubar
countryofbirth = Saudi Arabia
height = height|meters=1.76
currentclub = Al-Hilal
position = Striker
clubnumber = 20
youthyears = 2000-2003
youthclubs = Al-Qadisiya
years = 2003–2005
2005-present
clubs = Al-Qadisiya
Al-Hilal
caps(goals) = 38(19)
49(25)| nationalyears = 2002-present | nationalteam = flagicon|Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia | nationalcaps(goals) = 54 (44) | pcupdate = 25 december 2006 | ntupdate = 1 december 2006 Yasser Al-Qahtani ( _ar. ياسر القحطاني‎) (born October 10, 1982) is a Saudi Arabian professional football player, nicknamed "The Sniper" and "Robin Hood". He is the captain of the Saudi Arabia national football team and currently plays for Al-Hilal.

In 2005, he moved from Al-Qadisiya club to Al-Hilal for a record 23 million SR (5.33 million USD).

International career

He played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup where he scored a goal against Tunisia and also in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup where he was Awarded the top Goalscorer of the tournament.

Al-Qahtani is Ranked 6th in The World's Top Goal Scorers 2007 by International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

Al-Qahtani is very keen to join a major club in Europe. Both coaches and pundits were impressed with his performance in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup where he was the youngest Saudi Captain ever, leading the national team to the Final and becoming the top goalscorer in the competition.

Professional career

Al-Qahtani began his journey at Al-Qadisiya, where he gained fame for his scoring abilities and skill on the ball. He was sold to Al-Hilal for a record price of US $5.33 million, which is still a record in the league. After moving to Hilal, he scored many amazing goals; one memorable one was against Valencia CF, with Al-Hilal winning the match. He is often praised for his intelligence and experience in goal finishing, being linked to many European clubs in the process. Recently, in a friendly match with Manchester United he scored a goal on Edwin van der Sar which gave his team the lead. Al-Hilal finished the match with a 3-2 victory. He has since remained loyal to his club.

Interest shown by English clubs

English club Middlesbrough was said to be interested, as reported November 19 2007. [ [http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_2891380,00.html TEAMtalk Football News | Latest News | Football News from TEAMtalk ] ]

In addition Yasser Al Qahtani was on trial at Manchester City. The 25-year-old striker arrived in Manchester on December 19th with Al Hilal president Prince Mohammed Bin Faisal, with Sven-Goran Eriksson and his City coaching staff preparing to take a closer look at the player. Manchester City negotiated the player and his club but they couldn't reach a deal and the player returned to Saudi Arabia. Later on, the player stated that he would like to stay with his club at least until the end of the season.

Honours

* Named Asian Footballer of the Year in 2007.

Notes

References

* [http://www.alqnas.com the official site for Yasser Al-Qahtani (Arabic)]
* [http://www.alhilal.com the official site for alhilal saudi club (Arabic,English,French)]

External links

* [http://www.acmilanclub.com/Kaka_Nesta/Video/yasser20.wmv Goals & Skills (Video)]