Ali Abdullah Harib Al Habsi is an Omani goalkeeper born on December 30, 1981 in Muscat. Ali Al Habsi lives with his wife and his girl baby.
At the age of seventeen, he started his international career as a part of the Oman Under-19 squad before he was noticed by the former English goalkeeper, John Burridge in 2001. He was not able to make it up to the top English League as he did not possess a work permit. He appeared in three group matches in the 2004 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in China and followed it up with his four appearances for the Oman national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds. Ali Al Habsi was regarded as Oman’s prominent goalkeeper who has played in all the three group matches at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.
Ali Al Habsi began his football career as a goalie in the Al-Midhaibi team in 1998-99 season and represented the club till 2002. He also played for the Omani Football team, Al-Nasr (Salalah) between 2002 and 2003 before joining the Norwegian Football Club Lyn Oslo at the end of the year. Ali Al Habsi played in Lyn for three years and was voted best goalkeeper for the year 2004, for his excellent performance in the field. He also holds the record of winning the best goalkeeper award for three times in a row at the Golf cup.
After his stint with the Lyn Oslo, Bolton Wanderers signed him in January 2006 on a three and a half year contract. In September 2007, he played his first game for Bolton earning a 2-1 victory over Fulham in the Carling Cup. Ali Al Habsi saved many goals in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup against the German Football Club (FC), Bayern Munich. Ali Al Habsi got a chance to play in the English Premier League and started against Wigan Athletic F.C. by replacing the injured Jussi Jaaskelainen, England’s top goalkeeper.
Ali Al Habsi proved his talents in a 1-0 UEFA Cup victory at Red Star Belgrade and maintained a clean sheet in the match. He contributed for the team’s win over West Ham in a 1-0 lead at Middlesbrough.
The best save of Ali Al Habsi when he blocked the Brazilian player Ronaldo’s hat-trick shot at the edge of the box in the 66th minute at the Premier League 2008. He was greatly appreciated by Bolton boss Sam Allardyce for his good performance at the Premiership and promised to provide a platform for him to become the respected player in the world’s best Leagues.
Ali Al Habsi regards Jussi Jaaskelainen as his favorite goalkeeper from whom he mastered the tactics of goalie. He has also made history of being the second Arab goal keeper to play in the Premiership.
