Firas Al-Khatib

Firas Al Khatib
Personal information
Full name Firas Mohamad Al Khatib
Date of birth (1983-06-09) 9 June 1983
Place of birth Homs, Syria
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 12 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
Al-Salmiya
Number 9
Youth career
1994–1999 Al-Karamah
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2002 Al-Karamah 39 (21)
2002–2003 Al-Naser 21 (13)
2003–2009 Al-Arabi 196 (186)
2005Al-Ahli (loan) 1 (0)
2009–2011 Al-Qadsia 23 (17)
2011–2012 Umm Salal 6 (1)
2012 Al-Qadsia 8 (4)
2012–2013 Zakho 7 (2)
2013–2014 Shanghai Shenhua 41 (12)
2014–2016 Al-Arabi 59 (51)
2016–2017 Al-Kuwait 18 (13)
2017– Al-Salmiya 10 (9)
National team
1999–2001 Syria U-17 23 (17)
2001–2003 Syria U-20 33 (39)
2003–2004 Syria U-23 24 (11)
2001– Syria 62 (29)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 March 2016
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2018

Firas Mohamad Al Khatib (Arabic: فراس محمد الخطيب; born 9 June 1983 in Homs, Syria) is a Syrian footballer who predominantly plays as a forward. He currently plays for Al-Salmiya, which competes in the Kuwaiti Premier League.[1]

Club career

Al Khatib at Al-Qadsia.

Early life

Al-Khatib began playing football at Al-Karamah SC, he was included in the club's categories U-14, with whom he played for two seasons. One of the most important achievements of Al Khatib with youth Al Karamah was the victory of the Republic Cup and the title of the league's top scorer twice 1994/1995, 1995/1996. He then went on to play for Al Karamah U-17 in 1997, where he was crowned with the league title in the same year.

He also won the top scorer title. All this helped the young boy reach the youth team. During two seasons with U-19 team, he managed to win the league title and the second scorer.[2]

Al Karamah

Al Khatib started his professional career in the Syrian Premier League with Al-Karamah in the Season 1999–00. On 6 October 2000, he scored his first goal in the Syrian Premier League against Al-Futowa which 1–1 finished.

During 2001, he spent two trials in Belgium; first with Gent and the second with Anderlecht.

Al Naser

In August 2002 he transferred to Kuwaiti Club Al-Naser, and played in Kuwaiti Premier League for the first time. He then moved to Al-Arabi, which also competed in the Kuwaiti Premier League.

Al Arabi

With Al-Arabi he won the Kuwait Emir Cup three times, the Kuwait Crown Prince Cup twice and the Kuwait Super Cup once. He also scored 134 goals for the club and became a legend in the club.

On June 2005 he was loaned out to Al-Ahli in Qatar for one match, and played alongside Pep Guardiola.

Qadsia

On 24 August 2009, Al Khatib signed a two-year contract with Al-Qadsia in the Kuwaiti Premier League and played alongside his old teammate Jehad Al-Hussain.[3]

In July 2012, he participated in three games with Nottingham Forest, scoring once in a trial of month.[4] He impressed manager Sean O'Driscoll enough that the club were looking to sign him on a permanent basis but he was denied a work permit and the club was unable to sign him.[5]

Zakho

On 10 September 2012 he tweeted that he signed with Iraqi Premier League club Zakho FC officially.

Shanghai Shenhua

He left Iraq to join Sergio Batista's Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua at February 2013. He scored 11 goals in his Chinese Super League debut.

Return to Al Arabi

He became a free agent at the end of the 2013–14 football season and returned to Kuwait. He declined an offer from Kuwait SC and joined Al-Arabi SC on a 2-year deal.

During the first derby against Al-Salmiya SC, Al-Khatib scored his 100th league goal, but Al-Arabi SC lost the match 3–2.[6]

Al-Khatib ended the season with 20 goals and shared the VIVA Premier League 2014-15 top league scorer with Patrick Fabiano. His total goal tally in all competitions was 24 goals. In 2015–16, he was selected in the VIVS Premier League 1st Team alongside teammate Ali Maqseed. Al-Khatib also won the VPL Golden Boot and top scorer of Al-Arabi with 27 goals; his highest tally in any season with any team.

Al Salmiya

On September 2017, he joined to Al-Salmiya, and scored 11 goals in his Kuwaiti Premier League.

International career

He plays between 2001-2002 for the Syrian U-17 team, he plays for Syria in the AFC U-17 Championship 2002 in the UAE and he was a part of the Syrian U-23 team in the AFC Olympic qualification Athens 2004.

Al Khatib has been a regular for the Syria national football team from 2001 to 2012. In the FIFA World Cup qualification 2002.,[7] he came on as a substitute for Khaled Al Zaher in the match against Philippine on 4 May 2001 in the Al-Hamadaniah Stadium in Aleppo. On 11 May 2001 he scored one goal in the FIFA World Cup qualification 2002 match against Laos the match was finished 9-0 for Syria.

Personal boycott

From 2012 to 2017, al-Khatib boycotted the Syrian national team to protest dictator Bashar al-Assad and his regime's bombing and starving of Khatib's hometown of Homs in response to massive peaceful protests in 2011.But after 2018 he play re-joined the Syrian national team and showing full support of Al Assad[8]

International goals

Scores and results list Syria's goal tally first.[9][10]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 May 2001Al-Hamadaniah Stadium, Aleppo, Syria Laos8–09–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.9 December 2002Bahrain National Stadium, Manama, Bahrain Bahrain1–03–2Friendly
3.3–2
4.17 December 2002Kuwait National Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait Yemen1–03–22002 Arab Nations Cup
5.3–2
6.21 December 2002Kuwait National Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait Lebanon1–04–12002 Arab Nations Cup
7.15 October 2003Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria Sri Lanka5–05–02004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
8.18 October 2003Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria Sri Lanka1–08–02004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
9.3–0
10.4–0
11.7 November 2003Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria United Arab Emirates1–01–12004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
12.26 March 2004Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria Palestine1–01–1Friendly
13.7 February 2006Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria Palestine3–03–0Friendly
14.22 February 2006Al-Hamadaniah Stadium, Aleppo, Syria South Korea1–11–22007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
15.1 March 2006Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan Chinese Taipei4–04–02007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
16.15 November 2006Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria Chinese Taipei2–03–02007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
17.3–0
18.8 June 2008Thamir Stadium, Salmiya, Kuwait Kuwait1–12–42010 FIFA World Cup qualification
19.2–2
20.14 January 2009Aleppo International Stadium, Aleppo, Syria China PR3–03–22011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
21.18 January 2009Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait Turkmenistan4–15–1Friendly
22.5–1
23.23 January 2009Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait Kuwait3–23–2Friendly
24.28 January 2009Saida International Stadium, Sidon, Lebanon Lebanon2–02–02011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
25.27 January 2009Saputo Stadium, Montreal, Canada Haiti2–02–1Friendly
26.13 January 2011Qatar SC Stadium, Doha, Qatar Japan1–11–22011 AFC Asian Cup
27.26 August 2017Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca, Malaysia Iraq1–01–1Friendly
28.13 November 2017Karbala Sports City, Karbala, Iraq Iraq1–01–1Friendly
29.27 March 2018Basra Sports City, Basra, Iraq Iraq1–11–12018 International Friendship Championship

Honours

Club

Al-Arabi[11]

Al-Qadsia[12]

Kuwait SC

International

Syria[13]

Individual

References

  1. "Firas Al Khatib – Player profile". kooora.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  2. "Al-Khatib began playing football at Al-Karama Club". babonej.com (in Arabic).
  3. "Al Khatib moved to Al-Qadsia" (in Arabic). kooora.com. 23 August 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  4. "Syrian player to join England's Nottingham Forest FC, now owned by Kuwait".
  5. McDaid, Paul (22 August 2012). "Nottingham Forest fail to land work permits for Kuwaiti trio". Sport360.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  6. "Feras's 100th league goal". kooora.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  7. Firas Al KhatibFIFA competition record (archive)
  8. "A bloody, violent fight for the soul of soccer in Syria". ESPN.com.
  9. "Firas Al-Khatib". national-football-teams.com.
  10. "Firas Al-Khatib – International goals". kooora.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  11. Firas Al-Khatib at Soccerway
  12. Firas Al-Khatib at Soccerway
  13. Firas Al-Khatib at Soccerway
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