Yasser Saeed Al Qahtani
Personal information
Full name	Yasser Al Qahtani
Date of birth	October 10, 1982 (1982-10-10) (age 26)
Place of birth	Al Khubar, Saudi Arabia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Al-Hilal
Number	20
Youth clubs
2000-2003	Al-Qadisiya
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2005 2005-present	Al-Qadisiya Al-Hilal	38(19) 48(37)
National team2
2002-present	Saudi Arabia	55 (46)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 december 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 1 december 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Yasser Al-Qahtani (Arabic: 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.

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.

Wigan are apparently looking to make a move for Yasser Al-Qahtani this summer. It is understood that the Saudi Arabia captain would jump at the chance of a move to the Premiership.

It is understood that he is looking forward to partnering with Wigan front man Amr Zaki.

"I like the idea of playing with Zaki and I hope that a deal can happen," Al Qahtani told Emirates Business. "I am open to a move. If there is a good contract, then there is no problem."

The Al Hilal star turned down a move to Manchester City last year because he felt that the contract wasn`t right for him so it may take a big offer for the Latics to get their man.

Al Qahtani is the record transfer between two Saudi clubs when he moved from Al-Qadisiya to his present club Al Hilal in 2005 for a reported sum somewhere between $5.3 million US and $10 million US.

It seems that the chase is stepping up for Al Qahtani with several clubs showing interest in landing the striker including Napoli, CSKA Moskow, Real Betis, Porto and Fenerbaçe.

Honours

• Named Asian Footballer of the Year in 2007.

Notes

References

• the official site for Yasser Al-Qahtani (Arabic)
• the official site for alhilal saudi club (Arabic,English,French)

External links

• Goals & Skills (Video)

v • d • e Saudi Arabia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Al‑Deayea • 2 Dokhi • 3 Tukar • 4 Al‑Montashari • 5 Al‑Qadi • 6 Al‑Ghamdi • 7 Ameen • 8 Noor • 9 Al‑Jaber • 10 Al‑Shalhoub • 11 Al‑Harthi • 12 Khathran • 13 Sulaimani • 14 Khariri • 15 Al‑Bahri • 16 Aziz • 17 Al‑Bishi • 18 Al‑Temyat • 19 Massad • 20 Al‑Qahtani • 21 Zaid • 22 Khouja • 23 Mouath • Coach: Paquetá