Mohammed Gholam (born February 19, 1978) is a

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

i 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 ...

. He currently serves as the sporting director of his lifelong club,

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

Club career

Mohammed spent his entire club career at Al-Sadd, starting from the youth setup in 1986, before breaking in to the first team in 1997. The youngster went on to establish himself in the first team by the turn of the millennium, at a time in which another golden era began for the club. He went on to win numerous titles in a short span, which included the Qatari league shield after a 11-year gap, in addition to the club's first triumph at the Arab Club Champions Cup in 2001. In 2003, Mohammed had the honour of scoring in two finals, as Al-Sadd went on to win the domestic cup double by winning the Heir Apparent Cup and the Amir Cup. Quadruple The biggest achievement of that era came in the 2006–07, when Al-Sadd completed the domestic quadruple, winning all the titles on offer:

Sheikh Jassim 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 She ...

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 ...

, Heir Apparent Cup, and Amir Cup. Mohammed captained the team for a significant part of the season, including the latter two cup finals. After lifting the Amir Cup title following a shootout victory over

Al-Khor Al Khor (; also spelled ''Al Khawr''), officially Al Khor and Al Thakhira, is a Municipalities of Qatar, municipality in northeastern Qatar. Al Khor (city), Al Khor City, the municipal seat, is located on the northeast coast of Qatar, around f ...

in the season-ending final, he said: "The success we have achieved this season was not a coincidence, but the result of a well-planned and executed strategy by the players and management over the entire season. The hard work and determination of everyone involved have led us to this historic day that will be cherished in the memories of the players, staff, and fans."

Testimonial

On January 10, 2012, Al Sadd played Bundesliga side

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

in a testimonial friendly held in commemoration of Mohammed Gholam's career. A few former players flew in for the match, such as Felipe Jorge, who scored the winning goal for Al Sadd. Coincidentally, Mohammed scored Al Sadd's only goal against

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

in a 2–1 defeat in a farewell match for former club legend Jafal Rashed Al-Kuwari in 2009.

International career

Mohammed's international career for Qatar started with the U17 level, earning the captain's armband and moving through the U19 and U23 teams, before being called up to the senior national team. He went on to appear in three AFC Asian Cup tournaments for Al-Annabi. During his Asian Cup debut in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, at the 12th edition in Lebanon, Mohammed was given a start in the opening group stage game against Uzbekistan, and he scored his first international goal in the 60th minute. The game finished 1-1, after Mirjalol Qosimov equalised for Uzbekistan. Mohammed went on to start in the remaining two group games, against Saudi Arabia and Japan, both of which also ended in draws. Qatar qualified for the knockout stage of the competition for the first time as one of the best third-placed teams, and faced China in the quarterfinals. Mohammed started once again but Al-Annabi crashed out after a 3-1 defeat.

Honours

Club

*Al Sadd ''As player'' **

: 4 **

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup (), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by all first and second division teams in Qatar. The tournament is played in a knockout system, ...

: 5 ** Heir Apparent Cup: 4 ** QFA Cup: 1 ** Joint Tournament: 1 **

Arab Champions League The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

: 1 **Reserve League / U23 League: 2 ''As administrator'' **

: 4 **

: 5 ** Heir Apparent Cup: 3 **

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

: 1 **

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

Third Place: 1 **Reserve League / U23 League: 3

Honours

** The best football player (2002-2003) ** The Falcon Sports Magazine Football Player (2002-2003) ** Al Sadd Sports Club Player of the Year (1999-2000) ** Best Asian player of the month May-2003

Goals for Senior National Team

References

External links

Rich tributes to Gholam - DohaStadium plus

Perfect farewell - DohaStadium plus

- Stad Doha
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gholam, Mohammed 1978 births Living people Qatari men's footballers Qatar men's international footballers 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Qatari people of Baloch descent Al Sadd SC players Qatar Stars League players Men's association football midfielders Asian Games footballers for Qatar 21st-century Qatari sportsmen