Ali Al-Habsi

Ali Al-Habsi

Al Habsi with Wigan in 2011.
Personal information
Full name	Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi
Date of birth	(1981-12-30) December 30, 1981 (age 30)
Place of birth	Muscat, Oman
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Wigan Athletic
Number	26
Youth career
1997–1998	Al-Nasr
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2002	Al-Midhaibi	56	(0)
2002–2003	Al-Nasr	27	(0)
2003–2006	Lyn Oslo	62	(0)
2006–2010	Bolton Wanderers	10	(0)
2010–2011	→ Wigan Athletic (loan)	34	(0)
2011–	Wigan Athletic	37	(0)
National team‡
2002–	Oman	72	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 February 2012

Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi (Arabic: علي بن عبد الله بن حارب الحبسي‎), born December 30, 1981 in Muscat) is an Omani professional association football player. He plays in the Premier League as a goalkeeper for Wigan Athletic having previously played for Bolton Wanderers.

Club career

Early years

Ali Al-Habsi began his career at Al-Midhaibi, based in his hometown of Al-Midhaibi. After staying several years at the third division club, Al-Habsi transferred to Omani based team, Al-Nasr, a stay which lasted only one year. During his short time with Al-Nasr, Ali helped his team win the Sultan Qaboos Cup in a final against rivals, Dhofar which ended in a 2-1 victory.^[2]

Norway

After playing a season at Al-Nasr, Ali Al-Habsi signed to Lyn Oslo, and played three seasons for the Norwegian club. Following his signing with the club, he became the first Omani to play international football in Europe. He was also voted "Norwegian Goalkeeper of the Year" in 2004.^[3]

Bolton Wanderers

His transfer from Lyn Oslo to Bolton 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.^[4]

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.^[5] 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

Ali Al Habsi warming up, Wigan Athletic v Birmingham, 19 March 2011

On 15 July 2010, Al-Habsi joined local Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic on loan for the 2010–11 season.^[6] He made his debut on 24 August 2010 in a Carling Cup match against Hartlepool United,^[7] and made his first Premier League start for the club on 28 August 2010 against Tottenham Hotspur.

On 18 May 2011, Al-Habsi was named Wigan's player of the season for 2010-11.^[8]

On 4 July 2011, Wigan signed Al-Habsi to a four-year contract for an estimated £4 million transfer fee from Bolton.^[9] On 21 December 2011, Al Habsi also saved a penalty from Liverpool's midfielder Charlie Adam in a 0-0 draw.^[10] Yahoo! Eurosport awarded Al Habsi the man of the match due to his several good saves against Liverpool.

Career statistics

As of 7 May 2012^[11]

International career

Ali began playing in his native 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 excelled 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.[2]

Al-Habsi also has appeared as main keeper in 4 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.

Currently Al-Habsi has 70 international caps for Oman.

Honours

National Team

• Gulf Cup of Nations:
  • Winners: 2009
  • Runner-up: 2004, 2007

Individual awards

• Best Goalkeeper of the Gulf Cup: 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009,2011
• Arab Goalkeeper of the Year: 2004
• Norwegian Goalkeeper of the Year: 2004
• Wigan Athletic Player of the Year: 2011

References

External links

• Ali Al-Habsi career stats at Soccerbase
• Ali Al-Habsi at National-Football-Teams.com

v t e Oman squad – 2004 AFC Asian Cup 2 Mohammed Al-Noobi 3 Ayiman 4 Said 5 Hussain Mustahil 6 Hamdi 8 Badar Al-Maimani 9 Hashim 10 Fawzi 11 Yousuf 12 Ahmed Al-Mahaijri 14 Mohammed Hamed 16 Mohammed Al-Hinai 17 Hassan Al Gheilani 18 Sultan 19 Nabil 20 Amad 21 Ahmed Al-Mukhaini 22 Badar Al-Alawi 23 Badar Al Mahruqi 24 Ali Al Ajmi 24 Khalifa 25 Ali Al-Habsi Coach: Máčala

v t e Oman squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Sulaiman Al-Mazroui 2 Mohammed Al-Noobi 3 Juma 4 Said 5 Fahad 6 Issam 7 Sultan 8 Badar 9 Hashim Saleh 10 Fawzi 11 Yousuf 12 Ahmed Al Mahaijri 13 Mohammed Al-Ghassani 14 Younis Al Mushaifri 15 Ismail 17 Hassan Al Gheilani 18 Hamed 20 Amad 21 Ahmed Al Mukhaini 24 Younis Al Mahaijri 25 Sulaiman Al Shukairi 26 Ali Al-Habsi 28 Hussain Al-Hadhri Coach: Calderón