Place of birth Al-Mudhaibi, Oman Name Ali Al-Habsi Children Renaad Al-Habsi Number 26 Salary 3 million USD (2011) | Current team Reading Height 1.94 m Playing position Role Footballer Siblings Abdulaziz Al-Habsi | |
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Full name Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi Date of birth (1981-12-30) 30 December 1981 (age 34) Parents Aza Al-Habsi, Abdullah Al-Habsi Similar People Gary Caldwell, Malky Mackay, Roberto Martinez, Steve Bruce, Owen Coyle Profiles | ||
Multi angle a trio of saves from ali al habsi against bolton wanderers
Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi (Arabic: علي بن عبد الله بن حارب الحبسي; born 30 December 1981) is an Omani professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi club Al-Hilal FC and captains the Oman national team.
Contents
- Multi angle a trio of saves from ali al habsi against bolton wanderers
- Ali al habsi exclusive interview for the association of muslim footballers the amf
- Early career
- Bolton Wanderers
- Wigan Athletic loan
- Wigan Athletic
- Brighton Hove Albion loan
- Reading
- 20162017
- Al Hilal
- International career
- Personal life
- Club
- International
- Individual awards
- References
Ali al habsi exclusive interview for the association of muslim footballers the amf
Early career
Al-Habsi was born in Oman and started his early career in the country, racking up appearances before his move.
Bolton Wanderers
His transfer from Lyn Oslo to Bolton Wanderers 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.
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. 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 (loan)
In July 2010, Al-Habsi joined local rivals Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan. He made his debut on 24 August 2010 in a League Cup match against Hartlepool United and made his League debut four days later against Tottenham Hotspur. He was named Wigan's player of the season for the 2010–11 season.
Wigan Athletic
On the 4 July 2011 Al-Habsi joined the club permanently, signing a four-year contract for an estimated £4 million transfer fee from Bolton. Al-Habsi established himself as an outstanding penalty saver, saving approximately 50% of all the penalties he faced since joining Wigan. Robin van Persie, Carlos Tevez, Javier Hernández and Mikel Arteta are among the penalty takers Al-Habsi has stopped. This earnt him links to Liverpool and Arsenal. During the back end of the 2012–13 season, Al-Habsi was dropped to the bench as his position as Wigan's number one was threatened by the arrival of the athletic, young Spaniard Joel Robles on loan. The following season after being on the bench for Wigan's FA Cup win over Manchester City, Wigan were relegated back to the championship.
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)
On 31 October 2014, Al-Habsi signed for fellow Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on a one-month loan. After playing only one game for the club, Al-Habsi returned to his parent club Wigan.
Reading
Following his release from Wigan Athletic, Al-Habsi went on trial with Reading in July 2015. This ended in Al-Habsi signing a two-year contract with the club on 14 July 2015. On 5 January 2017, Al-Habsi extended his contract with Reading until the end of the 2018-19 season.
2016–2017
On 17 March 2017, Al-Habsi made several crucial saves in a 2-0 victory against playoff rivals Sheffield Wednesday. This performance and others throughout the season saw Al-Habsi named in the EFL Championship team of the season and awarded the Reading player of the season award.
Al-Hilal
On 17 July 2017, Al-Habsi moved to Al-Hilal for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract.
International career
Al-Habsi began playing in his native country 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 exited 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.
Al-Habsi also has appeared as main keeper in four 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. He earned his 100th cap with Oman in a 0–4 loss to Australia in 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
Personal life
Al-Habsi is a practising Muslim. and says that his faith plays a big part in his life. He is also married and has three daughters.
After finishing high school, he was a fireman in the Seeb International Airport in Muscat. In an interview with Al-Jazeera Sports, Al-Habsi accredited his previous profession with teaching him patience, hard work and patriotism. In another interview with AMF, he says that if he had not played professional football, he would have most likely continued with being a fireman.
Al-Habsi is the co-founder of Safety First, a non-profit road safety organisation in Oman that seeks to decrease car accident fatalities in the country.
Club
As of match played 29 May 2017International
Statistics accurate as of match played 29 March 2016