Have you heard of Puskas, Beckenbauer or Johan Cruijff ? If not than probably football is not your thing. If your did, do you know their nationalities? (ɥɔʇnp 'uɐɯɹǝƃ 'uɐıɹɐƃunɥ)
Long after they have retired (Puskas passed away in 2006), are still great ambassadors for their countries. There are probably few modern day marketing budgets that can repeat the performance of these legends in promoting their countries. The Hungarian inventiveness of Puskas, the German reliability of Beckenbauer and the Dutch completeness of Cruijff.
It is clear that successful teams and athletes are often priceless when it comes to country promotion. Although he is not (yet) a legend, Ali Al Habsi is playing a similar role. He is a great ambassador for Oman and its football and he has just been included in the top 500 most influential Arabs in the world list (by Arabian Business), where he is ranked #138, the first among Omanis. There is one and a bit of a problem with him: he is all alone and he is "only" a goalkeeper.
It is probably more difficult to stand out as a striker or a mid fielder and be b(r)ought in the Premier league or any other league for that matter, but Oman definitively needs another star, a striker! Ideally it would not only be the on-pitch skills making him a star, but a well balanced off-pitch personality as well, a true sportsman. (unlike Drogba who is a superstar, a cover page personality, but how much good does he actually do for Ivory Coast in terms of image?)
So who can match up Habsi in terms of personality and performance? Perhaps the OFA, among many other challenges, has to focus on creating at least another outstanding personality. (one way could be to support a few of the prospects to make the second division of large championships, then it's up to them to make the cut to the first stage and excel). Amad Al-Hosni with his 76 matches in the squad could not really make it yet. So, who could be the next Habsi?
Long after they have retired (Puskas passed away in 2006), are still great ambassadors for their countries. There are probably few modern day marketing budgets that can repeat the performance of these legends in promoting their countries. The Hungarian inventiveness of Puskas, the German reliability of Beckenbauer and the Dutch completeness of Cruijff.
It is clear that successful teams and athletes are often priceless when it comes to country promotion. Although he is not (yet) a legend, Ali Al Habsi is playing a similar role. He is a great ambassador for Oman and its football and he has just been included in the top 500 most influential Arabs in the world list (by Arabian Business), where he is ranked #138, the first among Omanis. There is one and a bit of a problem with him: he is all alone and he is "only" a goalkeeper.
It is probably more difficult to stand out as a striker or a mid fielder and be b(r)ought in the Premier league or any other league for that matter, but Oman definitively needs another star, a striker! Ideally it would not only be the on-pitch skills making him a star, but a well balanced off-pitch personality as well, a true sportsman. (unlike Drogba who is a superstar, a cover page personality, but how much good does he actually do for Ivory Coast in terms of image?)
So who can match up Habsi in terms of personality and performance? Perhaps the OFA, among many other challenges, has to focus on creating at least another outstanding personality. (one way could be to support a few of the prospects to make the second division of large championships, then it's up to them to make the cut to the first stage and excel). Amad Al-Hosni with his 76 matches in the squad could not really make it yet. So, who could be the next Habsi?
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