Roda Antar

Roda Antar
رضا عنتر

Personal information
Date of birth	(1980 -09-12) 12 September 1980 (age 31)
Place of birth	Freetown, Sierra Leone
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Shandong Luneng
Number	18
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2003	Tadamon Sour		(13)
2001–2002	→ Hamburger SV II (loan)	6	(1)
2001–2003	→ Hamburger SV (loan)	23	(2)
2003–2007	SC Freiburg	98	(26)
2007–2009	1. FC Köln	46	(7)
2009–	Shandong Luneng	92	(27)
National team‡
1998–2001	Lebanon U-21
2000–	Lebanon	34	(17)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 April 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 January 2012

Roda Antar (Arabic: رضا عنتر‎) born 12 September 1980 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is a Lebanese footballer who currently plays for Shandong Luneng Taishan in the Chinese Super League and is captain of the Lebanon national football team.

Antar started his career with Tadamon Sour, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad where he made his debut at the age of 17 in the Lebanese Premier League during the 1998–99 season. He finished his career with the club having scored 13 league goals. In July 2001, he was loaned to Germany's Hamburger SV for two seasons, where he scored two goals in 23 Bundesliga appearances, as well as one goal in six Regionalliga Nord appearances in his second season for Hamburger SV II, the club's reserve-team. In August 2003, Antar was brought to SC Freiburg by the club's first-team coach Volker Finke. After a serious injury, Antar eventually debuted in the 2003–04 season on 6 December in a 4–2 win against VfL Bochum, where Antar scored a hat-trick, and was subsequently referred to as a "Football God" by Freiburg supporters. He finished the season having scored seven goals in 17 league appearances. Prior to the start of the 2004–05 season, Freiburg had signed Antar's international team-mate Youssef Mohamad. Antar scored 2 goals in 23 league appearances as Freiburg were relegated to the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga. He remained there until July 2007, when both Antar and Mohamad were transferred to fellow 2. Fußball-Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln.

Antar debuted for Köln in a 2–0 away win against FC St. Pauli on 10 August 2007, and scored his first goal, a bicycle kick, in a 2–1 home victory against SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 23 March 2008, the goal was voted as goal of the month. In the second last game of the 2007–08 season, Antar helped Köln gain promotion back into the Bundesliga for the 2008–09 season, scoring a double in the decisive 2–0 home victory against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on 11 May. Antar finished the season having scored 7 goals in 31 league appearances, as Köln finished in third position of the 2007–08 2. Fußball-Bundesliga table with 60 points. During February of the 2008–09 season, Antar left Köln after disagreements with club sporting director Michael Meier and manager Christoph Daum subject to Antar's commitment to the first-team where which they had spoken with Antar and his adviser. Antar had made 15 league appearances before his exit. On 16 March 2009, he transferred to Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng Taishan for a transfer fee of £630.000, where he competed in the 2010 AFC Champions League the following year.

Antar has represented Lebanon at the 2000 WAFF Championship, the 2000 AFC Asian Cup and also at the 2002 Arab Nations Cup. He also participated in the qualifiers for the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Career

Tadaman Sour

1998–2001

Antar, along with his older brother Faisal Antar, started his career with Lebanese Premier League side Tadamon Sour. He debuted in the 1998–99 season, scoring his first goal in April in the 27th minute of a 3–1 home win against Safa.^[1] Antar scored his first goal of the 1999–00 season in round 4 in a 2–2 draw against Hekmeh FC in October. He scored four league goals for the season, as Tadaman Sour went onto claim a runners-up position in the Lebanese Federation Cup.^[2] Antar scored his first goals for the 2000–01 season, a brace, in a 4–1 away win against Al-Ansar on 10 January. Antar finished the 2000–01 season having scored six league goals.^[3]

Hamburger SV

Due to Antar's performances during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2001, Lebanon's national team coach, Theo Bücker, had assisted him in a transfer to Bundesliga outfit Hamburg SV, on loan from Lebanese Premier League club Tadamon Sour.^[4] Antar made his first appearance in the 2001–02 Fußball-Bundesliga season in a 1–1 away draw against TSV 1860 München on 11 August, where Antar was substituted onto the field for Erik Meijer in the 86th minute.^[5][6] Antar scored his first goal in the Bundesliga in a 3–1 home win against 1. FC Nuremberg on 2 March.^[7]

During his two-year stay with the club, Hamburg would claim the 2003 German League Cup, however, after failing to establish himself with the north German side (after he played in the Regionalliga Nord for Hamburg's reserve side for the 2002–03 season), he opted for a free-transfer to SC Freiburg.^[8]

SC Freiburg

Antar was brought to Freiburg by its first-team coach Volker Finke for the 2003–04 season. After a serious injury Antar eventually debuted in December 2003 when he scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 win against VfL Bochum. He was consequently referred to as a "Football God" by Freiburg supporters. During his time at Freiburg Youssef Mohamad, who was Roda's international team mate, was transferred to the club.

1. FC Köln

2007–08 season

Antar with 1. FC Köln

Roda Antar at 1. FC Köln

In 2007, both Antar and Mohamad were transferred to 2. Fußball-Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln for the 2007–08 season. He debuted for Köln in a 2–0 away win against FC St. Pauli on 10 August.^[9] Antar scored his first goal for Köln, a bicycle kick, in a 2–1 home victory against SV Wehen Wiesbaden on 23 March, the goal was voted as goal of the month.^[10] On 4 May 2008, Antar scored Köln's second goal in their 3–1 home victory against 1899 Hoffenheim.^[11] In the 79th minute of the match, Antar was deliberately kicked in the face by Hoffenheim midfielder Carlos Eduardo Marques, as confirmed by TV pictures. The referee, Peter Gagelmann, did not see the incident occur, however, the German FA made subsequent investigations before bringing in a charge which resulted in issuing Marques with a multi-game suspension which restricted him from playing in any competitive fixtures for the duration of the 2007–08 season.^[12] In the second last game of the 2007–08 season, Antar helped Köln gain promotion back into the Bundesliga, scoring a double in the decisive 2–0 home victory against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on 11 May.^[13] Antar finished the season having scored seven goals in 31 league appearances, Köln finished in third spot of the table on 60 points and were promoted to the Bundesliga for the 2008–09 Fußball-Bundesliga season.^[14]

2008–09 season

In February 2009, he left Köln after disagreements with club sporting director Michael Meier and manager Christoph Daum. The issue was subject to Antar's commitment to the first-team where which they had spoken to Antar and his adviser. The club's board of directions offered him support and individual training sessions as they felt obliged to fulfill the contractual agreement which initially ran until 30 June 2009, but no contact to him could be made after he did not turn up to the club s training sessions. Antar's agent stated that he had offers from Japan, Russia and China.^[15]

Shandong Luneng Taishan

On 16 March 2009 Antar signed to China's Shandong Luneng Taishan for a transfer fee of 630.000£ (700.000€).^[16] During 2010 Antar featured in the 2010 AFC Champions League where which Shandong were eliminated in the group stage.^[17]

On the opening day of the 2012 Chinese Super League season, Antar scored in the 32nd minute of the first-half to give Shandong the lead in a 2–1 away loss against Guizhou Renhe on 10 March.^[18]

International career

Called up to the national team for the 2000 West Asian Football Federation Championship at 19 years of age, a young Antar was then selected to represent Lebanon at the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. Drawn against Iran, Iraq and Thailand he played in all three of Lebanon's group stage matches as Lebanon finished in fourth position with two points, having drawn with both Iraq and Thailand.^[19] Antar would then play a vital role in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as Lebanon took out Pakistan 6–0 and then the Sri Lanka 4–0, with Antar netting twice against Sri-Lanka.^[20][21] On 17 May 2001 Lebanon's third group stage fixture was against Thailand where Antar netted after ten minutes before Thailand scored two goals before half time as the game finished 2–1.^[22] Lebanon then took on Pakistan where they won 8–1, Antar and Gilberto Dos Santos scored two goals each.^[23] Lebanon finished in second position of their group, going agonisingly close to qualifying for the second round. Qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup began in 2004 where which Lebanon who were without Antar, who had been named captain by that time, in the first fixture took on Korea Republic. Antar appeared in Lebanon's second match away to Vietnam where he and Khaled Hamieh both netted in the 83rd and 88th minute to secure a 2–0 victory.^[24] Antar scored again in Lebanon's third game against Maldives in a 3–0 victory in Beirut.^[25] Lebanon would again take on Maldives where which they won 5–2, where Antar had scored Lebanon's fifth goal.^[26] The second last group stage fixture was the decider which would have seen Lebanon take top spot in the group had they won, Antar and his side drew 1–1 as Lebanon went agonisingly close to progressing to the second round of qualifiers, it would be Antar's last game of the campaign where Lebanon drew 0–0 against Vietnam in the closing fixture.^[27][28] Prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign fixtures scheduled for 2008, Lebanon went through plays-offs in 2007 where which they beat India 4–1 at home, where Roda Antar and Mohammed Ghaddar had both netted twice.^[29] They would then draw 2–2 in India and proceed to the group stages of the qualifying campaign.^[30] Being grouped with Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, Lebanon would only score three goals in the entire group stage fixtures. The campaign proved to be possibly Antar's final world cup qualifying campaign.

After one year of absence, Antar returned to the national team for the AFC Third Round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Having missed Lebanon's opening group-stage match against South Korea in Goyang due to a visa problem, Antar was named captain by coach Theo Bücker for his first appearance, where he helped Lebanon to a 3-1 home victory against the United Arab Emirates on 6 September 2011. Antar had assisted Akram Moghrabi in scoring Lebanon's second goal and scored the third goal himself with a header in the 83rd minute.^{[31][32][33][34][35]}

Career statistics

International

International goals

Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	25 May 2000	King Abdullah Stadium, Amman	Kyrgyzstan	2–0	2–0	2000 WAFF Championship
2.	25 June 2000	Tripoli Municipal Stadium, Tripoli	Kuwait	2–1	3–1	Friendly
3.	8 August 2000	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut	Oman	1–1	1–2	Friendly
4.	25 April 2001	Tripoli Municipal Stadium, Tripoli	Philippines	1–0	3–0	Friendly
5.	15 May 2001	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut	Sri Lanka	1–0	4–0	2002 World Cup qualifier
6.				2–0
7.	17 May 2001	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut	Thailand	1–0	1–2	2002 World Cup qualifier
8.	26 May 2001	Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok	Pakistan	3–1	8–1	2002 World Cup qualifier
9.				4–1
10.	24 December 2002	Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City	Yemen	1–0	4–2	2002 Arab Nations Cup
11.				2–1
12.				3–1
13.	31 March 2004	Chùa Cuõi Stadium, Nam Dinh	Vietnam	1–0	2–0	2006 World Cup qualifier
14.	9 June 2004	Beirut Municipal Stadium, Beirut	Maldives	2–0	3–0	2006 World Cup qualifier
15.	8 September 2004	Rasmee Dhandu Stadium, Malé	Maldives	5–0	5–2	2006 World Cup qualifier
16.	8 October 2007	Saida International Stadium, Sidon	India	1–1	4–1	2010 World Cup qualifier
17.	6 September 2011	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut	United Arab Emirates	3–1	3–1	2014 World Cup qualifier

Honours

Club

Hamburger SV

• DFB-Ligapokal: 2003

Shandong Luneng Taishan FC

• Chinese Super League: 2010

References

External links

• Roda Antar at Shandong Luneng
• Roda Antar at Soccerway.com
• Roda Antar at Transfermarkt.co.uk
• Roda Antar at National-Football-Teams.com

v t e Lebanon squad – 2000 AFC Asian Cup 1 Fakih 2 Yenkibarian 3 Mohamad 4 Jadir 5 El Naamani 6 Taha 7 Chahrour 8 Hijazi 9 Zein 10 Hojeij 11 Newton 12 dos Santos 13 Marcílio 14 Ghazarian 15 Fernandez 17 F. Antar 18 Halawi 19 Reda 20 R. Antar 21 El Fattal 22 Sakr 23 Al Jamal Coach: Skoblar