Mansour Muftah Faraj Bekhit Al-Abdullah, or simply Mansour Muftah alternatively spelled Mansoor Moftah(, born 1955) is a

Qatari Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the ...

former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He was the top scorer in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

a record 7 times.

Club career

Youth career

Muftah attended the New Rayyan School; the school's football pitch was shared by

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

'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, to the indignation of his brother. The next day, the Al Rayyan youth team won 3–1 against the Al Arabi youth team, with Muftah scoring 2 of the goals.

Al-Rayyan

Muftah started playing for Al-Rayyan from 1972 till 1994, He had helped them win 6 titles and was the Top-goalscorer on several occasions. He had also won the

Qatar Sheikh Jassem Cup The Sheikh Jassim Cup () is an annual men's super cup competition in Qatari football held between the winner of the Qatar Stars League and the Emir of Qatar Cup. History The inaugural Sheikh Jassim Cup was held in 1977. Prior to the 2014 Sheikh ...

in 1992 with Al-Rayyan. He is Regarded as a club legend and one of the best to play for the club.

Al-Wakrah

In 1995, Mansour Muftah joined Al-Wakrah and played till 1998. During his tenure, He scored 19 goals in 44 matches, and won the

in 1998.

Al-Saliya

During his final years he joined Al-Saliya, A club that played in the Qatari Second Divison, Mansour joined in 1999 and played for Al-Saliya till 2001 before retiring. He played 19 matches and scored 7 goals.

International career

Muftah made his international debut in the

4th Arabian Gulf Cup The 4th Arabian Gulf Cup () was the fourth edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup. The tournament was held in Doha, Qatar and was won by the three-time defending champions Kuwait national football team, Kuwait. The tournament took place between 26 March ...

against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. He scored 4 goals in 6 games in the tournament, including a two-minute brace against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. He also featured in the 5th Arabian Gulf Cup in Iraq, scoring a single goal against the UAE, and again in

6th Arabian Gulf Cup The 6th Arabian Gulf Cup () was the sixth edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup. The tournament was held at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates between 19 March and 4 April 1982. Kuwait won their fifth title after defeatin ...

, scoring a goal against

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. In 1981, he participated in the

World Military Cup The World Military Cup is an international association football competition contested by national military teams. Organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM), the tournament was first held in 1946 under the title World Military ...

held in Qatar, helping his team finish as runners-up. From 1980 till 1986, the national team was coached by

Evaristo de Macedo Evaristo de Macedo Filho, (born 22 June 1933), known simply as Evaristo, is a Brazilian former footballer and coach. Club career Madureira (1950–1952) Raised in the north of Rio de Janeiro, Evaristo, like many children, played football simp ...

, who he describes as ''"undoubtedly the most influential person in his playing career"''.أسطورة الكرة القطرية منصور مفتاح في حديث خاص للشرق :كنا مرشحين بقوة للقب آسيا88 وسوء الحظ سبب خروجنا
He competed in the men's tournament at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. He scored two goals and attained three assists in the group stage of the

1988 AFC Asian Cup The 1988 AFC Asian Cup was the 9th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar between 2 December and 18 Decembe ...

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. He retired from international football in 1990, due to differences with the coach, Dino Sani.ثعلب الكره القطريه والخليجيه
In total, he participated in 6

Arabian Gulf Cup The Arabian Gulf Cup (, ''Kaʾs al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī''), also referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial association football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of ...

and 3

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

s. In the Gulf Cup, He scored 13 goals in total participating from 1976-1990 in the competition, Scoring 4 goals in the Asian Cup, He is regarded as one of the Best Qatari Players of All-Time.

Mansour Muftah award

Starting from the 2013–14

, the top scorer award was renamed the "Mansour Muftah award" to honor his immense contribution to Qatari football.

Personal life

His brother, Faraj Muftah, is a volleyball referee. He participated in the Syria International Rally in 2004. He has a son, Tameem Mansour, who plays for Al Rayyan as well as the Qatar national team.

Legacy

Mansour Muftah is regarded as one of the best Arab scorers from his era, He was a influential player for both Club and Country, providing many goals and attacking plays, Alongside being the top Goal-Scorer a record 7 times He is also the Top Goal-Scorer in the Amir Cup with 36 Goals and also in the Sheikh Jassim Cup with 34 Goals, He is nicknamed "The Fox" Due to his ability to score inside the box and provide long-range shots.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

*Al-Rayyan :*

Qatari League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wit ...

: 1975–76, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90. :*

: 1992 *Al-Wakrah :*

: 1998

International

*Qatar :*

Runner Up:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Arab Nations Cup The FIFA Arab Cup (), or Arab Cup, is an international association football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), ...

4th place:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Individual

top scorer 8 Times : 1973–1974,1976-1977,1977–1978,1981–1982, 1982–1983, 1983–1984, 1985–1986 *

highest goal average with 22 goals in 12 matches. * 1982 Gulf Club Champions Cup Top scorer : 6 goals. * Arabian Golden Boot: 1981-82, 1985-86

References

External links

*
Qatar - List of Top Scorers
* Mansoor Muftah on ar.wikipedia.org
Ásia : Qatar : Mansoor Muftah
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muftah, Mansoor Footballers from Doha Qatari men's footballers Qatar men's international footballers 1955 births Living people Al-Rayyan SC players Al-Wakrah SC players Al-Sailiya SC players Qatar Stars League players 1988 AFC Asian Cup players 1984 AFC Asian Cup players 1980 AFC Asian Cup players Men's association football forwards Olympic footballers for Qatar Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics