Ahmed Al-Ghamadi

[Atlantic]

https://www.transfermarkt.us/ahmed-al-ghamdi/profil/spieler/671043
 

He made his debut in the Saudi top-flight about a month ago and since then has featured on the bench in Al-Ettifaq’s next two games. Just 20 years old, CDM. 

Edited December 22, 2021 by Atlantic

[Approve My Account Pls]

 

[jordan]

Played for Saudi U23 against Kuwait. 

[VinceA]

If he keeps playing and Saudi doesn't give him calls we should try to call him up for the fall. AFAIK he's only played friendlies for the senior team.

[Shway]

1 hour ago, VinceA said:

If he keeps playing and Saudi doesn't give him calls we should try to call him up for the fall. AFAIK he's only played friendlies for the senior team.

In the hypothetical event that whoever is eligible is willing, I'm curious what you're 23 would look like. 

So many guys deserve looks, but limited spots. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Shway

[InglewoodJack]

I talk shit about the Saudi league, but if he’s good enough to start alongside Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane, he’s good enough for us (to take a look at).

[Big_M]

Title must be corrected

Ahmed Al-Ghamadi

[CanadaFan123]

13 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

I talk shit about the Saudi league, but if he’s good enough to start alongside Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane, he’s good enough for us (to take a look at).

But then I’d ask how if he’s not good enough for Saudi Arabia how is he good enough for us? That’s the dilemma with this one and why I don’t think we’ll ever see him with Canada. Yes, Saudi Arabia is a decent side but I’d put us ahead in terms of talent. 

[InglewoodJack]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

But then I’d ask how if he’s not good enough for Saudi Arabia how is he good enough for us? That’s the dilemma with this one and why I don’t think we’ll ever see him with Canada. Yes, Saudi Arabia is a decent side but I’d put us ahead in terms of talent. 

I have no clue how KSA rates him for their national team- I would assume with the success they had at the world cup, their roster might be tricky to break into, since they'll keep all of their guys, but I would imagine if he's good enough for us, he's good enough for them, and playing in their league and with all the investments KSA is making into the sport, I think it would be extremely difficult to pry a good player away from them. No clue if the rumor about all of their players getting Rolls Royces (I think?) after they beat Argentina is true, but you stack that compared to the perks of playing for Canada (free extra pack of triskets + the good headphones on the flight home), I dunno.

[Aird25]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

But then I’d ask how if he’s not good enough for Saudi Arabia how is he good enough for us? That’s the dilemma with this one and why I don’t think we’ll ever see him with Canada. Yes, Saudi Arabia is a decent side but I’d put us ahead in terms of talent. 

He’s played twice for Saudi Arabia’s senior side and he won the Asian cup with their U23 side. He played his youth soccer in Canada and got his professional start here

[RS]

7 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

I have no clue how KSA rates him for their national team- I would assume with the success they had at the world cup, their roster might be tricky to break into, since they'll keep all of their guys, but I would imagine if he's good enough for us, he's good enough for them, and playing in their league and with all the investments KSA is making into the sport, I think it would be extremely difficult to pry a good player away from them. No clue if the rumor about all of their players getting Rolls Royces (I think?) after they beat Argentina is true, but you stack that compared to the perks of playing for Canada (free extra pack of triskets + the good headphones on the flight home), I dunno.

The exited at the group stage.

Yes, they beat Argentina, but that result was more of a fluke than anything.

[Obinna]

29 minutes ago, RS said:

The exited at the group stage.

Yes, they beat Argentina, but that result was more of a fluke than anything.

I am sure Saudi don't see it that way. If we managed to beat Belgium would we have considered it a fluke. 

I bet Argentina see it as a fluke though 😆

[InglewoodJack]

36 minutes ago, RS said:

The exited at the group stage.

Yes, they beat Argentina, but that result was more of a fluke than anything.

If we pulled off that result, it would be our biggest game in a generation and half they voyageurs would be debating whether we're going to make the finals in 2026 or just breeze to a 3rd place finish.

 

[Approve My Account Pls]

38 minutes ago, RS said:

The exited at the group stage.

Yes, they beat Argentina, but that result was more of a fluke than anything.

They also have a domestic league that, even with out recent years influx in money, has produced teams that have been regularly successful at the continental level and internationally have made 6 of 8 world cups. Taking a look in the mirror, I really don't think we can turn our noses at that yet

[InglewoodJack]

This whole wave of excitement around Canadian soccer stems from world cup qualifiers, and specifically how we beat teams like Mexico and the US on our way to qualification, so you can imagine just how impactful us beating the best team in the world, the greatest player on earth, and the eventual world cup champs who didn't lose another game later on.

 

You can call it a fluke, and it definitely was, but it's a game they'll still be talking about in a century.

[RS]

@Obinna@InglewoodJack @Approve My Account Pls

I'm not convinced.

Saudi Arabia's roster shouldn't be much tougher to break than before into because they caught Argentina on a terrible day (which is the implication I was responding to).

Just because it would be a big game for Canada doesn't mean it was a success. A draw at a World Cup (against literally anyone) would be Canada's best-ever result in a men's World Cup, and while that would be a positive for Canada, it wouldn't be a successful World Cup in the general sense.

[RS]

1 minute ago, InglewoodJack said:

This whole wave of excitement around Canadian soccer stems from world cup qualifiers, and specifically how we beat teams like Mexico and the US on our way to qualification, so you can imagine just how impactful us beating the best team in the world, the greatest player on earth, and the eventual world cup champs who didn't lose another game later on.

 

You can call it a fluke, and it definitely was, but it's a game they'll still be talking about in a century.

You guys are taking this way too literally.

Of course it's a great result, but ultimately that's all it was. My original response was to your assertion that that one result is suddenly going to make Saudi's squad harder to crack than it was prior to the World Cup. I don't see that as true.

[Obinna]

14 minutes ago, RS said:

@Obinna@InglewoodJack @Approve My Account Pls

I'm not convinced.

Saudi Arabia's roster shouldn't be much tougher to break than before into because they caught Argentina on a terrible day (which is the implication I was responding to).

Just because it would be a big game for Canada doesn't mean it was a success. A draw at a World Cup (against literally anyone) would be Canada's best-ever result in a men's World Cup, and while that would be a positive for Canada, it wouldn't be a successful World Cup in the general sense.

I don't necessarily disagree with your overall point. I just don't like diminishing their result by calling it a fluke. If the game was completely one-sided and Saudi took the game by a fluke goal against the run of play, then that's a little different, but they came down from 1-nil and won the game 2-1, no? Obviously a massive upset and Argentina was unlucky in many respects surely, but it was a legit win for the Saudis and rightly a watershed moment for their country. 

As for the player in question, yes I agree that not a lot changes in terms of him being in-or-out of their pool due to that result. He's playing in the domestic league right now that's obviously getting better, so to me that should put him closer to them, not further away. 

[RS]

20 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I don't necessarily disagree with your overall point. I just don't like diminishing their result by calling it a fluke. If the game was completely one-sided and Saudi took the game by a fluke goal against the run of play, then that's a little different, but they came down from 1-nil and won the game 2-1, no? Obviously a massive upset and Argentina was unlucky in many respects surely, but it was a legit win for the Saudis and rightly a watershed moment for their country. 

I put the result down to Argentina playing poorly more than anything Saudi Arabia did.

Of course they should take pride in keeping it close and scoring first, but I don't think there's much more you can take from that result, especially given how the rest of the group stage went for them.

21 minutes ago, Obinna said:

As for the player in question, yes I agree that not a lot changes in terms of him being in-or-out of their pool due to that result. He's playing in the domestic league right now that's obviously getting better, so to me that should put him closer to them, not further away. 

That's along the lines of what I was saying.

The lone WC result does nothing to hurt his chances of breaking into the squad. Saudi's tactical/personnel needs as well as Al Ghamdi's body of work will determine his inclusion (and his own preferences, of course).

[Corazon]

I’ve been interested in seeing how he does at Al-Ittihad on his loan move from Al-Ettifaq.  Al-Ittihad is one of the biggest clubs in Asia and was one of several Saudi clubs that went on a spending spree last summer.  
 

It looks like he was the first substitute on for Al-Ittihad today when he came on in the 63rd minute.  Replacing the central midfielder Farhan and playing alongside N’Golo Kante.  Currently Al-Ittihad lead 3-0 in extra time with their 3rd goal coming after he entered the field.  It looks like he’s picked up a yellow card as well.

Edited February 7 by Corazon

[Bigandy]

Is he still technically eligible. Only 2 caps and both before he was 21 I believe? 

If hes playing besides kante, is he worth a look? Any one have any knowledge on his eligibility as well as quality he has? 

[Aird25]

1 hour ago, Bigandy said:

Is he still technically eligible. Only 2 caps and both before he was 21 I believe? 

If hes playing besides kante, is he worth a look? Any one have any knowledge on his eligibility as well as quality he has? 

I don't know much about eligibility, but I watched him at Pacific. He was young but he was technically and tactically sound and he scored a banger of a goal for us. He's a tricky dribbler and he strikes the ball well with both feet

[Corazon]

4 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

I don't know much about eligibility, but I watched him at Pacific. He was young but he was technically and tactically sound and he scored a banger of a goal for us. He's a tricky dribbler and he strikes the ball well with both feet

Wikipedia does state that he is eligible for both Saudi Arabia and his “adopted homeland” Canada but we know Wikipedia can be unreliable.

I’m definitely intrigued by this move for him.  Al-Ittihad aren't having a great season but they’re tied for 4th most Asian Champions League titles with 2.

He’s now being managed by Marcelo Gallardo and now playing alongside N’Golo Kante, Karin Benzema, Fabinho, Luiz Felipe among others.

[Corazon]

I still think it’s cool that he’s playing for such a big club in Saudi Arabia.  Scored a goal and got an assist today against Al-Fateh FC.  The overall competition in the league outside of the top 3 or 4 isn’t great but I’m still interested to see where he ends up.  He’s still only 22.

[Atlantic]

Permanently joins Al-Ittihad 

I’d put his shot at playing for Canada at less than 0.001% but still not officially gone forever yet