Christian Saba

Christian Saba

Personal information
Full name	Christian Saba
Date of birth	29 December 1978 (1978-12-29) (age 32)
Place of birth	Accra, Ghana
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Central Defender
Club information
Current club	Free agent
Youth career
0000–1994	King Harrison
1994–1995	Hearts of Oak
1995–1996	Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–2011	Bayern Munich II	285	(8)
1997–1998	→ Bayern Munich	0	(0)
1998–1999	→ Hertha BSC (loan)	1	(0)
1999–2000	→ Arminia Bielefeld (loan)	0	(0)
National team‡
1996	Ghana U23
1996–1997	Ghana	4	(0)
Honours Bayern Munich Winner DFB Liga-Pokal 1997 Winner DFB-Pokal 1998 Bayern Munich II Winner Regionalliga Süd 2004  Ghana Winner FIFA U-17 World Championship 1995
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 November 2006

Christian Saba (born 29 December 1978 in Accra) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays as a defender.

One of the most lengthy tenures of any foreign player with a sole team, he was never able however to make it past the reserves of Bayern Munich.

Club career

After appearing in his country for King Harrison Accra and Accra Hearts of Oak, Saba joined FC Bayern Munich's youth system in 1996 at 17, alongside compatriot Emanuel Bentil. Neither were able to break into the first team, but Saba did manage to stay with the club, playing for the reserves and being an occasional standby player for the first team.

Saba's debut in the Bundesliga occurred not with Bayern, but with Hertha Berlin, where he was on loan for 1998–99: on 29 May 1999, in the season's closer, he played 10 minutes in a 6–1 home routing of Hamburger SV, in what would be his only topflight appearance. The following campaign, he was loaned to Arminia Bielefeld, but did not manage one single official appearance, and the club was also relegated from level one.

From 2000 until 2011 onwards, Saba remained a defensive stalwart for Bayern's second team, which competed in the third division in German football. He was released in June 2011, after 16 years with the club.

International career

Saba was selected for Ghana's under-23 team for the 1996 Summer Olympics, alongside Bayern teammate Samuel Kuffour, and scored twice against Italy in the group stages, helping qualify the African precisely at the expense of the Europeans.^[1]

References

1. ^ "Ghana - Italy 3:2 (1:2)". FIFA.com. 23 July 1996. http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/tournament=512/edition=197142/matches/match=32233/report.html. Retrieved 18 January 2010. 

External links

• Christian Saba at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Christian Saba at FCBayern.de (German)
• Christian Saba at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Saba, Christian
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	29 December 1978
Place of birth	Accra, Ghana
Date of death
Place of death