Roda Abdelhassan Antar (; born 12 September 1980) is a Lebanese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player. Formerly captain of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, Antar scored 20 goals for his country as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Antar started his career with Tadamon Sour, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad where he made his debut at the age of 17. In 2001, he was loaned to Germany's

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

for two seasons, winning the

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, before moving to

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

in 2003 on a permanent deal. In 2007, he moved to

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

, helping them gain promotion back into the Bundesliga for the 2008–09 season. In 2009, Antar moved to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side Shandong Luneng Taishan, where he remained for five years and won a league title in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

; he then played for Jiangsu Sainty in 2014, and Hangzhou Greentown in 2015. Antar returned to Tadamon Sour in 2016, where he retired after one season. Born in Sierra Leone, Antar is of Lebanese descent through his father. He represented

at international level between 1998 and 2016, playing in the

2000 AFC Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan def ...

, the

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 ...

and

2012 WAFF Championship The 2012 WAFF Championship was the 7th WAFF Championship, an international tournament for member nations of the West Asian Football Federation. It was hosted by Kuwait from 8 to 20 December 2012. The defending champions were Kuwait. However, the ...

, and the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and 2002 Arab Nations Cup. Antar also participated in the qualifiers for the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

tournaments.

Club career

Tadamon Sour

Antar, along with his older brother Faisal Antar, started his career with

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...

side Tadamon Sour, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad. He debuted at the age of 17 during the 1998–99 season, scoring his first goal in April in the 27th minute of a 3–1 home win against Safa. Antar scored his first goal of the 1999–00 season in round 4 in a 2–2 draw against Sagesse in October. He scored four league goals for the season, as Tadaman Sour went onto claim a runners-up position in the Lebanese Federation Cup. Antar scored his first goals for the 2000–01 season, a brace, in a 4–1 away win against Al-Ansar on 10 January. Antar finished the 2000–01 season having scored six league goals.

Hamburger SV

Due to Antar's performances during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2001, Lebanon's national team coach, Theo Bücker, had assisted him in a transfer to Bundesliga outfit Hamburger SV, on loan from

club Tadamon Sour. Antar made his first appearance in the 2001–02 Bundesliga season in a 1–1 away draw against

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of the German football pyramid. Their current home gr ...

on 11 August, where Antar was substituted onto the field for Erik Meijer in the 86th minute. Antar scored his first goal in the Bundesliga in a 3–1 home win against 1. FC Nürnberg on 2 March. During his two-year stay with the club,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

would claim the 2003 German League Cup, however, after failing to establish himself with the north German side (after he played in the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord () is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...

for Hamburg's reserve side for the 2002–03 season), he opted for a free-transfer to

SC Freiburg

Antar was brought to Freiburg by its first-team coach Volker Finke for the 2003–04 season. After a serious injury Antar eventually debuted in December 2003 when he scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 win against

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

. He was consequently referred to as a "Football God" by Freiburg supporters. During his time at Freiburg Youssef Mohamad, who was Roda's international teammate, was transferred to the club.

1. FC Köln

2007–08 season

In 2007, both Antar and Mohamad were transferred to 2. Bundesliga side

for the 2007–08 season. He debuted for Köln in a 2–0 away win against

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 Bundesli ...

on 10 August. Antar scored his first goal for Köln, a bicycle kick, in a 2–1 home victory against

SV Wehen Wiesbaden SV Wehen Wiesbaden is a German association football club based in Wiesbaden, Hesse. The club was previously known as ''SV Wehen'' but added ''Wiesbaden'' to its name during the summer of 2007. They left their previous ground, the Taunusstein, t ...

on 23 March, the goal was voted as goal of the month. On 4 May 2008, Antar scored Köln's second goal in their 3–1 home victory against 1899 Hoffenheim. In the 79th minute of the match, Antar was deliberately kicked in the face by Hoffenheim midfielder Carlos Eduardo Marques, as confirmed by TV pictures. The referee, Peter Gagelmann, did not see the incident occur, however, the German FA made subsequent investigations before bringing in a charge which resulted in issuing Marques with a multi-game suspension which restricted him from playing in any competitive fixtures for the duration of the 2007–08 season. In the second last game of the 2007–08 season, Antar helped Köln gain promotion back into the Bundesliga, scoring a double in the decisive 2–0 home victory against

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

on 11 May. Antar finished the season having scored seven goals in 31 league appearances, Köln finished in third spot of the table on 60 points and were promoted to the Bundesliga for the 2008–09 Bundesliga season.

2008–09 season

In February 2009, he left Köln after disagreements with club sporting director Michael Meier and manager

Christoph Daum Christoph Paul Daum (24 October 1953 – 24 August 2024) was a German professional Association football, football manager and player. As a manager, he won eight trophies with clubs from Germany, Turkey and Austria. In 1992, he won the Bundesliga ...

. The issue was subject to Antar's commitment to the first-team where which they had spoken to Antar and his adviser. The club's board of directions offered him support and individual training sessions as they felt obliged to fulfill the contractual agreement which initially ran until 30 June 2009, but no contact to him could be made after he did not turn up to the club's training sessions. Antar's agent stated that he had offers from Japan, Russia and China.

Shandong Luneng Taishan

On 16 March 2009 Antar signed to China's Shandong Luneng Taishan for a transfer fee of £630,000 (€700,000). Antar featured in the

2010 AFC Champions League The 2010 AFC Champions League was the 29th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 8th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National ...

, where which Shandong were eliminated in the group stage. On the opening day of the 2012 Chinese Super League season, Antar scored in the 32nd minute of the first half to give Shandong the lead in a 2–1 away loss against Guizhou Renhe on 10 March. On 30 November 2012, it was reported that

club

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

were observing Antar as his contract with Shandong Luneng was soon to expire and his contract was not re-newed. However, he later re-newed his contract with Shandong Luneng which kept him at the club until December 2013.

Jiangsu Sainty

In December 2013, Antar stated that he had agreed terms with Jiangsu Sainty and would leave

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Jinan, Shandong, that competes in . Shandong Taishan plays its home matches at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, located within Lixia District. Their c ...

on 31 December 2013 in order to become part of Jiangsu Sainty's squad in January 2014. Wearing the number 6 jersey, Antar debuted for Jiangsu Sainty in first round of the

2014 Chinese Super League The 2014 Chinese Super League was the eleventh season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the 21st season of a professional Association football league and the 53rd top-tier league season in China. Guangzhou Evergrande won their ...

in a 1–0 home victory against Guizhou Renhe on 8 March, playing a full 90-minutes of the match.

Hangzhou Greentown

On 16 January 2015, Antar transferred to fellow

side Hangzhou Greentown. On 20 June 2015, Antar scored for the first time against his former team Jiangsu Sainty with a volley in the 87th minute to tie the game up before his teammate Xie Pengfei scored two minutes later to win them the game 2–1.

Return to Tadamon Sour

In 2016, Antar moved back to Lebanon, signing for his former club Tadamon Sour. He scored six league goals in 16 matches, before retiring at the end of the season.

International career

Antar was called up to the Lebanon national team aged 18, making two appearances at the

1998 Arab Nations Cup The 1998 Arab Cup was the seventh edition of the Arab Cup hosted by Qatar, in the city of Doha. Saudi Arabia won their first title. Qualifying The 12 qualified teams are: Venues Squads Overview Algeria, Egypt and Morocco did not send the ...

. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory at the

2000 WAFF Championship The 2000 West Asian Football Federation Championship, also known as the King Hussein Cup, was the first edition of the WAFF Championship; it took part in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Iran won the final against Syria 1–0. The eight entrants w ...

against

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

on 25 May 2000. He then scored two more goals for Lebanon that same year in friendlies against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

(25 June) and

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 ...

(8 August). In 2001, Antar scored six times for Lebanon, reaching nine international goals, where he scored once in a 3–0 friendly victory against

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and five more goals during the qualifiers for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. Antar scored his first hat-trick for the national team during the 2002 Arab Nations Cup in a 4–2 victory against

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

on 24 December 2002. His hat-trick brought him to a total of 12 national team goals. On 25 March 2013, Antar announced his retirement from international football citing that the constance long-distance traveling had left him physically tired and exhausted. In late October 2013, Antar announced his return to the national team. During Lebanon's last

2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification was a qualification process organized by the AFC to determine the participating teams for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup, hosted by Australia, featured 16 teams. In the initial scheme, ten pl ...

match against

Thailand national football team The Thailand national football team (, , ) represents Thailand in senior international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Thailand. In the regional competition, Thailand is the most successful football team in Southeas ...

on 5 March 2014, Antar scored Lebanon's fifth goal in their 5–2 away victory, the goal brought his tally to 19 national team goals making him the joint leading goal scorer, with Wartan Ghazarian, of the Lebanon national team.

2000 AFC Asian Cup

Antar was selected by coach Josip Skoblar for Lebanon's 23-man squad for the 2000 Asian Cup campaign, where Antar was handed the number 20 shirt. Both Antar and his brother, Faisal had been selected for Lebanon, and Antar was also one of five under-21 players selected in the squad. Antar played in Lebanon's first group-stage match, a 4–0 loss against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

on 12 October. Antar was substituted off of the field for Moussa Hojeij in the 65th minute. Antar then featured for Lebanon's 2–2 draw against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on 15 October, when he was substituted onto the field for Michael Reda in the 47th minute. Antar then played in Lebanon's 1–1 draw against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

on 18 October, when he was again substituted onto the field for Jamal Taha in the 63rd minute. Lebanon were eliminated from the tournament having obtained two points, finished in bottom place of Group A.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Under

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

coach Theo Bücker, Antar played a vital role for Lebanon during the first round qualifiers for the

, scoring five goals in five appearances. In Lebanon's opening match, he played a full 90-minutes in their 6–0 victory against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

on 13 May 2001. Antar then scored a double in Lebanon's 4–0 win against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

on 15 May 2001. Two days later, Antar scored for Lebanon in the 9th minute giving them a 1–0 lead against

on 17 May 2001. Thailand scored two goals before half-time to eventually win the match 2–1. On 26 May 2001, Antar scored another double in Lebanon's 8–1 victory against Pakistan. On 30 May 2001, Antar played a full 90-minutes of Lebanon's 2–2 draw against Thailand. The result meant that Lebanon finished in second position of their respective group, with 13 points, but failed to advance to the second round of qualifiers.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

Antar was named captain in 2004 for the second round qualifiers for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, scoring three goals in four appearances. He missed Lebanon's first match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, a 2–0 loss on 18 February 2004, due to a visa problem. On 31 March 2004, Antar played in his first match of the qualification campaign, a 2–0 away victory against

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, where Antar scored Lebanon's first goal of the match in the 83rd minute. On 9 June 2004, Antar scored in Lebanon's 3–0 home win against

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

. Antar again scored for Lebanon in their 5–2 away victory against Maldives in Malé on 8 September 2004. On 13 October 2004, Antar played a full 90-minutes of Lebanon's 1–1 home draw against South Korea. The result meant that Lebanon could not proceed to the next round of qualifiers, Lebanon eventually drew 0–0 with Vietnam in Beirut on 17 November 2004 in their last qualification match and finished in second place of their respective qualification group with 11 points.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Antar featured in two

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualification matches for Lebanon. They were drawn in a

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

play-off against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, where Antar scored in Lebanon's 4–0 first-leg victory on 8 October 2007. Following a 2–2 draw in the second leg on 30 October 2007, Lebanon advanced to the next round of qualifiers. Antar then played a full 90-minutes of Lebanon's

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

qualifier against

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

, a 1–0 home defeat on 6 February 2008. Lebanon had obtained no points out of their six group stage matches and finished in bottom place of their respective group.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Third round

After one year of absence due to international retirement, Antar came out of retirement to play under former coach, Theo Bücker, for the AFC third round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Having missed Lebanon's opening group-stage match against

Goyang Goyang (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's Satellite city, satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, w ...

due to a visa problem, Antar was named captain by Bücker for his first appearance, where he helped Lebanon to a 3–1 home victory against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

on 6 September 2011. Antar had assisted Akram Moghrabi in scoring Lebanon's second goal and scored the third goal himself with a header in the 83rd minute. Antar was then awarded the man of the match. During Lebanon's third group-stage match on 11 October 2011, Lebanon had drawn 2–2 with

in front of approximately 32,000 fans in Beirut. On 15 November 2011, Lebanon defeated

2–1 in Beirut. Lebanon took the lead after 4 minutes when Antar's shot was blocked and then turned in by Ali Al Saadi. Their second goal came after 30 minutes of the first half when Abbas Ali Atwi converted a penalty shot. Antar inspired Lebanon to a spirited and historic victory, recording Lebanon's first ever win over South Korea, and had been instrumental in Lebanon's last four qualifiers as they obtained ten points to share their group's top spot with the South Korea. The 2–1 result sent both teams to the fourth round of the qualifiers. It was after this win that Lebanon striker Mahmoud El Ali hailed the performance of Antar and how much his presence had helped Lebanon. Antar had received his second yellow card of the third round against South Korea and therefore did not take part in Lebanon's 4–2 away loss against the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

on 29 February 2012.

Fourth round

During Lebanon's fourth group-stage match of the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

on 11 September 2012, Antar scored in the 27th minute of the match to give Lebanon a 1–0 victory against

. Antar scored in the 27th minute from a header off a Mohamad Haidar free-kick, upon his return to the team, having missed the opening three games due to injury. The spirited victory not only marked Lebanon's first-ever goal but also its first-ever win against Iran, brought the Iranians' 13-match unbeaten qualifying record to an end. In October 2011, it was reported that Antar praised the Lebanon national team for their results and stated that it was the best national team in their history. He also indicated that his captaincy role was more of a job as opposed to a responsibility and that it was his duty to do his job well and try to win matches alongside his teammates.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

On 12 November 2015, Antar scored his 20th international goal for Lebanon in a 7–0 home victory against

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

during a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

match. Antar celebrated the goal by showing ten fingers twice and also pointed to the number 20 on his shirt to indicate that he had achieved 20 national team goals. During a press conference on 31 March 2016, Antar announced that he would retire from international football after Lebanon's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Myanmar. Antar ended his international career with 20 goals in 65 appearances.

Managerial career

Racing Beirut

In June 2017, Antar was appointed head coach of Lebanese club

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

. After two years in the

with the club, on 25 April 2019, Antar was suspended for one year by the

Lebanese Football Association The Lebanese Football Association (LFA; ; ) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. Formed in 1933, it is a member of both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, AFC. It is also one of the founding members of the West Asian ...

as he attacked the referee during the last game of the league, in a relegation battle against Tripoli which he lost 1–0.

Lebanon U23

On 12 August 2020, Antar was appointed manager of the Lebanon national under-23 team.

Ahed

On 28 September 2020, Ahed announced that Antar became the club's head coach. On 3 January 2021, Antar submitted his resignation; in the first phase of the 2020–21 season, Ahed won four games, drew five, and lost two.

Personal life

Antar speaks

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, English, and Chinese.

Career statistics

Club

International

: ''Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Antar goal''.

Honours

Player

Hamburger SV *

SC Freiburg * 2. Bundesliga: 2002–03 Shandong Luneng Taishan *

Individual *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

All-time Lebanon Men's Dream Team * Lebanese Premier League Best Player: 2000–01 * Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season: 1999–2000, 2000–01

References

External links

*
Roda Antar
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Antar, Roda 1980 births Living people Footballers from Freetown Lebanese men's footballers Sierra Leonean men's footballers Lebanese people of Sierra Leonean descent Sierra Leonean people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent Sportspeople of Lebanese descent Men's association football midfielders Tadamon SC Sour players Hamburger SV II players Hamburger SV players SC Freiburg players 1. FC Köln players Shandong Taishan F.C. players Jiangsu F.C. players Zhejiang Professional F.C. players Lebanese Premier League players Oberliga (football) players Bundesliga players Regionalliga players 2. Bundesliga players Chinese Super League players Lebanon men's youth international footballers Lebanon men's international footballers Asian Games footballers for Lebanon Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Lebanese football managers Racing Club Beirut managers Al Ahed FC managers Lebanese Premier League managers Lebanese expatriate men's footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in China Sierra Leonean expatriate men's footballers Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Germany Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in China International sportspeople born abroad