Mansour Muftah

Mansour Muftah Faraj Bekhit Al-Abdullah, or simply Mansour Muftah (Arabic: منصور مفتاح‎, born 22 November 1955) is a former Qatari footballer who played as a forward. He was the top scorer in the Qatar Stars League a record 4 times, as well as being the top scorer for the Qatar national team till this day with 53 goals.[2] Other sources indicate that he only scored 31 goals.[3]

Mansour Muftah
Personal information
Full name Mansour Muftah Faraj Bekhit Al-Abdullah
Date of birth (1955-11-22) 22 November 1955
Place of birth Doha, Qatar
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1972–1974 Al-Rayyan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1974–1995 Al-Rayyan
1995–1998 Al-Wakrah
1999–2000 Al-Saliya
Total 216 (179[1])
National team
1976–1990 Qatar 89 (55[2]/31[3])
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Youth career

Muftah attended the New Rayyan School; the school's football pitch was shared by Al Rayyan's first team. He joined in on an Al Rayyan training session, and scored two goals in a training match, prompting head coach Ashour Salem to ask him to join Al Rayyan's youth teams. Muftah rejected as he was a fan of Al Arabi, and was under pressure from his family to play for Al Arabi. Nonetheless, his sister-in-law presented him a contract with Al Rayyan, and he signed it without knowledge of the contents. Shortly after, his brother coerced him into signing a contract binding him to Al Arabi. This caused the two respective clubs to involve the QFA, which offered him a chance to select between the two clubs. He chose to play for Al Rayyan, a decision which elicited his brother to beat him.[4] The next day, the Al Rayyan youth team won 3–1 against the Al Arabi youth team, with Muftah scoring 2 of the goals.

International career

Muftah made his international debut in the 1976 Gulf Cup of Nations against Saudi Arabia.[5] He scored 4 goals in 6 games in the tournament, including a two-minute brace against Bahrain.[6] He also featured in the 1979 Gulf Cup of Nations held in Iraq, scoring a single goal against UAE, and again in 1982 Gulf Cup of Nations, scoring a goal against Oman.

In 1981, he participated in the World Military Cup held in Qatar, helping them finish as runners-up.[7] From 1980 til 1986, the national team was coached by Evaristo de Macedo, who he describes as "undoubtedly the most influential person in his playing career".[8]

He scored two goals and attained three assists in the group stage of the 1988 AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar. After Qatar made an early exit, Muftah, who was team captain, stated he felt humiliated for not at least reaching the knock-out stage. In a post-tournament interview, he apologized to the Qatari fans on behalf of the team. Despite losing the tournament, he earned 45,000 QR for winning 2 of the games.[8]

He retired from international football in 1990, due to differences with the coach, Dino Sani.[7] In total, he participated in 6 Gulf Cup of Nations and 3 AFC Asian Cups.[9]

Mansour Muftah award

Starting from the 2013–14 Qatar Stars League, the top scorer award was renamed the "Mansour Muftah award" to honor his immense contribution to Qatari football.[10]

Personal life

His brother, Faraj Muftah, is a volleyball referee.[11] He participated in the Syria International Rally in 2004.[12] He has a son named Tamim who plays in Al Rayyan's youth teams.[1]

Career statistics

Goals breakdown

Obtained from qnasports.com and aawsat.com. Mansour Muftah was the second most-capped player in the Qatar Stars League behind Mubarak Anber of Al Sadd with 246 caps.

Competition Goals Apps
Qatar Stars League179216
Emir Cup36??
Sheikh Jassim Cup34??
Total249??

Honours

Club
  • Al-Rayyan
  • Al-Wakrah

International
  • Qatar

Individual

References
  1. "منصور مفتاح: بكيت على مشواري في الملاعب.. والقطريون تجاهلوا تكريمي". aawsat.com. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. "A different goal this time!". dohastadiumplusqatar.com. 5 February 2014. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  3. "Qatar stats". qatarfnt. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  4. "منصور مفتاح: ماجد أسطورة لم تتكرر". alyaum.com. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  5. نجوم قطرية سطعت في سماء العرس الخليجي (in Arabic)
  6. RSSSF - Gulf Cup '76
  7. ثعلب الكره القطريه والخليجيه Archived 2010-11-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Arabic)
  8. أسطورة الكرة القطرية منصور مفتاح في حديث خاص للشرق :كنا مرشحين بقوة للقب آسيا88 وسوء الحظ سبب خروجنا (in Arabic)
  9. منصور مفتاح من ابرز اللاعبين العرب في تاريخ كاس اسيا (in Arabic)
  10. "Belhadj, Trabelsi win top football awards". gulf-times.com. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  11. "قطر تتجاهل منصور مفتاح". akhbar-alkhaleej.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  12. "مفتاح يشارك في رالي سورية". daharchives.alhayat.com. 15 April 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
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