Mohamed Saqr

Mohamed Saqr Ahmed (born May 17, 1981) is a retired Qatari footballer who was playing as a goalkeeper for Qatar Stars League side Al Sadd and the Qatar national team. In 2011, Saqr was a vital part of the Al Sadd squad that was crowned Champions of Asia after winning the 2011 AFC Champions League. And selected by french newspaper as the best goalkeeper in the week . He retired at the end of 2012 .

Mohamed Saqr
Saqr in an Al Sadd line-up in 2012
Personal information
Full name Mohamed Saqr Ahmed
Date of birth (1981-05-17) May 17, 1981
Place of birth Dakar, Senegal[1]
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Al Sadd retired
Number 30
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2003 Al Khor 45 (0)
2003–2012 Al Sadd 186 (1)
National team‡
2004–2012 Qatar 79 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1/7/2015
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1/7/2015

Club career

Saqr played in the 2011 AFC Champions League with Al Sadd, eventually going on to win the title. He received much praise for his performance in the final against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, in which he made many key saves during the 120 minutes, as well as two crucial saves during the penalty shoot-outs which his team won 4–2. Al Sadd's manager, Jorge Fosatti, expressed that he thought that Jeonbuk's misses had more to do with Mohammed's good saves rather than them taking bad shots.[2] Saqr attracted worldwide attention for his stellar performance, being voted "World Player of the Week" on November 7 by Goal.com.[3] He also won "Fan's Man of the Match" and received a mention by FIFA in the match article for his "goalkeeping heroics", describing him as arguably the most valuable player of the night.[4]

The stunning champions league victory took Al Sadd to the FIFA Club World Cup. There, Al Sadd was pitted against Espérance, the champions of Africa, whom they defeated 2–1. Al Sadd were drawn against eventual winners Barcelona in the semi-final. Saqr had a consequential misunderstanding with Nadir Belhadj, which allowed Adriano to run the ball into the net. Saqr made several more errors in the game, allowing Barcelona to score 3 additional goals in order to settle the score 4–0.

Al Sadd would then face Kashiwa Reysol in the third-place match. It was the first time that two clubs from the same federation faced off each other in a third-place match. After a good display by Saqr, the game went straight to a penalty shoot-out with the score 0–0. Saqr yet again proved to be the hero in the penalty shoot-outs, making a superb diving save to deny Hayashi. The shoot-outs ended 5–3 in favour of Al Sadd, and was the first time a West Asian club had earned a bronze medal in the competition.[5]

Saqr came in 14th place out of 17 in a list entitled "World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2011" published by IFFHS, being the only player not from South America or Europe to be included in the list.[6]

International career

Saqr played for the Qatar national team squad in the 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations which was held on home soil. He succeeded in winning the trophy for his country, as he saved three penalty kicks, which led Qatar to the 2nd Gulf Cup of Nations trophy in their history on the end of a 6–5 penalty shoot-out against Oman.

After the sacking of Lazaroni from the Qatar national team in 2012, Paulo Autuori called Saqr up to the squad selected to face Iran in a 2014 World Cup qualifying match. Saqr did not show up to training. He later stated he did not know he was called up, before announcing his retirement from international football.[7]

Honours

Al-Sadd

FIFA Club World Cup

  • Third-place: 2011

AFC Champions League

  • Winner: 2011

Qatari Stars Cup

  • Winner: 2010–11

Sheikh Jassem Cup

  • Winner: 2007

Qatar Crown Prince Cup

  • Winner: 2006, 2007, 2008

Emir of Qatar Cup

  • Winner: 2005, 2007

Qatar Stars League

  • Winner: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07

References
  1. footballdatabase.eu :: Mohamed Saqr
  2. Fossati lauds ´keeper Saqr
  3. World Player of the Week: Mohamed Saqr - Al Sadd
  4. Al Sadd defy the odds
  5. "Al-Sadd take third on penalties". Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
  6. "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2011". RSSSF. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  7. محمد صقر:من الأفضل الأبتعاد عن العنابي في الوقت الحالي (in Arabic)
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