Al-Kathiri.. Omani talent achieved the title of the best in the world

A spectacular talent, accuracy in passing like no other player, the only Arabic player that achieved the title of the best junior in the world in the1995 World Cup in Ecuador, and also achieved the top scorer of the tournament with 5 goals out of 6 corners.

He is the icon of Omani, Gulf and Arab football, Mohammed bin Amer Al Kathiri, who was born on December 7th, 1978. He played in the position of a playmaker and was a unique scorer, especially with the the Oman junior national team.

Al-Kathiri played football in the neighborhoods and his school until he later joined the Mirbat club, and he did not proceed his short career, which did not exceeded 4 years, except for the Mirbat and Al-Nasr clubs.

He retired from playing at a young age after his name was written in letters of gold in the Omani and international football record, and he achieved individual achievements that were not achieved by any Omani player, nor any Gulf and Arab players in his career.

Al Kathiri was one of the best players in the world of his generation, and he succeeded in leading the junior team to the semi-finals of the 1995 World Cup in Ecuador, with five goals he scored in the tournament, which placed him at the forefront of the world players.

Al Kathiri is a playmaker of a unique style, distinguished by his accurate passes and scoring from set pieces, especially corner kicks, where he scored 5 goals out of 6 corners in the Junior World Cup in Ecuador, and this was not achieved by any player in the world, as he was known for his speed and skill.

Al-Kathiri won the Best Asian Young Player award in 1995, the Golden Ball for the best player in the World Junior Championships (U-17) and also won the Silver Boot in the same tournament despite his equal number of goals with Australian Daniel Allsopp (by lot), and he was close to winning With the Golden Boot, he translated the chances that the team had against Ghana in the semi-finals into goals.

The young Omani shone in a tournament in which great players such as Pablo Aimar, the Spanish player of Zaragoza, Cambiasso, the Inter player, and Nuno Gomez, the Benfica striker, participated, not only that, but he outperformed them all.

After the end of the Junior World Cup, offers poured on the Omani player by many big European clubs, but his career was not completed and he did not reach foreign professionalism, which was a loss to the Gulf and Arab football of a player who could have been a legend of his time, and the story of Al Kathiri ended with early retirement.