Yasser Al-Qahtani (Arabic: ياسر القحطاني‎) (born October 10, 1982) is a Saudi Arabian professional football player, nicknamed "The Sniper" and "Robin Hood". He is the captain of the Saudi Arabia national football team and currently plays for Al-Hilal.

In 2005, he moved from Al-Qadisiya club to Al-Hilal for a record 30 million SR ( 8.1 million USD).

Club career statistics

As of June 28, 2009

International career

He played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup where he scored a goal against Tunisia, which marked his great movement and composure in front of the goal. He also played in the [2007 AFC Asian Cup] where he was named the top goalscorer of the competition. Apart from this, he was the youngest Saudi captain ever, leading the national team to the final.

Al-Qahtani is Ranked 900 in The World's Top Goal Scorers 2007 by International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	December 26, 2002	Kuwait, Kuwait	Yemen	2-2	Draw	2002 Arab Cup Group Stages
2	December 26, 2002	Kuwait, Kuwait	Yemen	2-2	Draw	2002 Arab Cup Group Stages
3	October 8, 2003	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Bhutan	6-0	Won	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4	January 6, 2004	Kuwait, Kuwait	Oman	2-1	Won	2003 Gulf Cup of Nations
5	January 8, 2004	Kuwait, Kuwait	Yemen	2-0	Won	2003 Gulf Cup of Nations
6	January 8, 2004	Kuwait, Kuwait	Yemen	2-0	Won	2003 Gulf Cup of Nations
7	February 18, 2004	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Indonesia	3-0	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	July 18, 2004	Chengdu, China	Turkmenistan	2-2	Draw	2004 AFC Asian Cup Group Stages
9	July 18, 2004	Chengdu, China	Turkmenistan	2-2	Draw	2004 AFC Asian Cup Group Stages
10	September 1, 2004	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Kuwait	1-1	Draw	Friendly match
11	September 8, 2004	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	1-0	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	October 12, 2004	Jakarta, Indonesia	Indonesia	3-1	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	December 5, 2004	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Russia	1-0	Won	Friendly match
14	December 11, 2004	Doha, Qatar	Kuwait	1-2	Lost	2004 Gulf Cup of Nations Group Stages
15	April 13, 2005	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Algeria	5-0	Won	2005 Islamic Cup Group Stages
16	April 20, 2005	Mecca, Saudi Arabia	Morocco	1-0	Won	2005 Islamic Cup Final
17	May 25, 2005	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Korea Republic	2-0	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
18	February 14, 2006	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Syria	1-1	Draw	Friendly match
19	June 14, 2006	Munich, Germany	Tunisia	2-2	Draw	2006 FIFA World Cup Group Stages
20	August 9, 2006	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Bahrain	1-0	Won	Friendly match
21	August 16, 2006	Calcutta, India	India	3-0	Won	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
22	August 16, 2006	Calcutta, India	India	3-0	Won	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
23	August 16, 2006	Calcutta, India	India	3-0	Won	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
24	October 11, 2006	Sapporo, Japan	Japan	1-3	Lost	2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
25	January 8, 2007	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Gambia	3-0	Won	Friendly match
26	January 8, 2007	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Gambia	3-0	Won	Friendly match
27	January 18, 2007	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Bahrain	2-1	Won	2007 Gulf Cup of Nations Group Stages
28	January 18, 2007	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Bahrain	2-1	Won	2007 Gulf Cup of Nations Group Stages
29	January 24, 2007	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Iraq	1-0	Won	2007 Gulf Cup of Nations Group Stages
30	July 11, 2007	Jakarta, Indonesia	Korea Republic	1-1	Draw	2007 AFC Asian Cup Group Stages
31	July 14, 2007	Jakarta, Indonesia	Indonesia	2-1	Won	2007 AFC Asian Cup Group Stages
32	July 22, 2007	Jakarta, Indonesia	Uzbekistan	2-1	Won	2007 AFC Asian Cup Quarter-finals
33	July 25, 2007	Hanoi, Vietnam	Japan	3-2	Won	2007 AFC Asian Cup Semi-Final
34	September 11, 2007	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Ghana	5-0	Won	Friendly match
35	September 11, 2007	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Ghana	5-0	Won	Friendly match
36	November 9, 2007	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Estonia	2-0	Won	Friendly match
37	November 25, 2007	Cairo, Egypt	Egypt	1-2	Lost	2007 Pan Arab Games
38	January 30, 2008	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Luxembourg	2-1	Won	Friendly match
39	February 6, 2008	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Singapore	2-0	Won	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
40	June 2, 2008	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Lebanon	4-1	Won	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
41	June 2, 2008	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Lebanon	4-1	Won	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
42	January 8, 2009	Wattayah, Oman	Yemen	6-0	Won	2009 Gulf Cup of Nations Group Stages
43	January 11, 2009	Muscat, Oman	United Arab Emirates	3-0	Won	2009 Gulf Cup of Nations Group Stages
44	June 4, 2009	Tianjin, China	China PR	4-1	Won	Friendly match

Professional career

Al-Qahtani began his journey at Al-Qadisiya, where he gained fame for his scoring abilities and skill on the ball. However, his relationship club officials was strained after the club refused to let the player move to Al-Hilal, a move that Yasser was keen to complete. Despite numerous threats to take the club to court inorder to force the transfer, Yasser and his solicitors eventually forced a move to Al-Hilal instead. For a record price of US $5.33 million, which is still a record in the league. After moving to Hilal, he scored many amazing goals; one memorable one was against Valencia CF, with Al-Hilal winning the match. He is often praised for his intelligence and experience in goal finishing, being linked to many European clubs in the process. Recently, in a friendly match with Manchester United he scored a goal on Edwin van der Sar which gave his team the lead. Al-Hilal finished the match with a 3-2 victory. He has since remained loyal to his club.

In addition Yasser Al Qahtani was on trial at Manchester City. The 25-year-old striker arrived in Manchester on December 19 with Al Hilal president Prince Mohammed Bin Faisal, with Sven-Goran Eriksson and his City coaching staff preparing to take a closer look at the player. The only missing signature was the player's signature because of reservation on changing his current agent and individual commercial rights that Manchester City wanted to proclaim. Later on, the player stated that he would like to stay with his club at least until the end of the season.

National Team Career Statistics

Appearances in major competitions

• 2002 Arab Cup - Champions
• 2003 Gulf Cup of Nations - Champions
• 2004 AFC Asian Cup - Group Stages
• 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations - Group Stages
• 2005 Islamic Cup - Champions
• 2006 FIFA World Cup - Group Stages
• 2007 Gulf Cup of Nations - Semi-finals
• 2007 AFC Asian Cup - 2nd Place
• 2009 Gulf Cup of Nations - 2nd Place

Honours

• Named Asian Footballer of the Year in 2007.
• Top goalscorer of the AFC Asian Cup in 2007.

Notes

References

• the official site for Yasser Al-Qahtani (Arabic)
• the official site for alhilal saudi club (Arabic,English)

External links

• Goals & Skills (Video)

Awards
Preceded by A'ala Hubail Ali Karimi	Asian Cup Top scorer 2007 Shared with Younis Mahmoud Naohiro Takahara	Succeeded by Incumbent

v • d • e Saudi Arabia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Al‑Deayea • 2 Dokhi • 3 Tukar • 4 Al‑Montashari • 5 Al‑Qadi • 6 Al‑Ghamdi • 7 Ameen • 8 Noor • 9 Al‑Jaber • 10 Al‑Shalhoub • 11 Al‑Harthi • 12 Khathran • 13 Sulaimani • 14 Khariri • 15 Al‑Bahri • 16 Aziz • 17 Al‑Bishi • 18 Al‑Temyat • 19 Massad • 20 Al‑Qahtani • 21 Zaid • 22 Khouja • 23 Mouath • Coach: Paquetá

v • d • e Saudi Arabia squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup Runners-up 1 Al Mosailem • 2 Hazzazi • 3 Hawsawi • 5 Al-Amri • 6 Al-Ghamdi • 7 K. Al-Mousa • 9 Mouath • 11 Al-Harthi • 12 Al-Khaibari • 13 Darwish • 14 Khariri • 15 Al-Bahri • 16 Aziz • 17 Al-Jassim • 18 A. Al-Qahtani • 19 Jahdali • 20 Y. Al-Qahtani • 21 Al-Qarni • 22 Abdullah • 23 Al-Shamrani • 25 Tukar • 28 Otaif • 30 A. Al-Mousa • Coach: Hélio