Syrian hitman scores award

Al Arabi's Syrian striker Firas Al Khatib this week won the title of Best Arab Player in Arabic football leagues for 2008-09. He beat Saudi players Mohammed Nour and Yasser Al Qahtani to the award, who came second and third respectively.

"I was very happy that I outclassed many stars of Arabic football. But, at the same time, this puts big pressure on me," Al Khatib told Emirates Business.

"Frankly, I did not expect I would receive the award. But, thank God, I managed to win it."

According to a poll conducted by alarabiya.net, Al Khatib received 52 per cent of the votes, while Ittihad Jeddah's Nour obtained 25 per cent and Al Qahtani got 10 per cent.

On factors that helped him win the title, he said: "The Syrian national team improved their performance in their past seven games. In addition, I scored 23 goals with Al Arabi in the current season.

"But, I won the award mainly due to the good games I played with Syria."

The 25-year- old star is regarded as one of the Kuwaiti league's most prominent strikers, though his club only managed to finish fifth in the standings. He scored 10 league goals to finish the division's second top scorer.

He gave his evaluation of the Kuwaiti soccer league, saying: "The Kuwaiti league is currently not in its best condition. But the league is not easy and does not receive big attention by the media. It deserves more."

The one-month poll was restricted to players of Arabic leagues and it did not include Arab players in European competitions.

Al Khatib also spoke about the reasons that prevent him from playing in leagues stronger than the Kuwaiti league.

"I should have a strong manager who can help me play with better leagues and big clubs," he said. "Surely, I would like to play in stronger tournaments, though I feel comfortable in Kuwait in the meantime.

"If I do not receive a good offer, I cannot agree to a club. I currently have offers from Kuwait's biggest clubs, including a renewal offer from Al Arabi.

"I would be honoured to play in stronger tournaments, such as the UAE and Qatari leagues, but they prefer big names from Europe and Brazil."

On his future ambitions at club and national team levels, he said: "I plan to play with a team that participates in the AFC Champions League. At the national team level, I aim to play in the Asian Cup finals.

"Syria is going through one of their best ever conditions at the minute; it only lacks high-level friendly internationals," added Al Khatib. "This will be achieved in June when the national team goes to Montreal in Canada to play against France's Paris Saint German and the French Olympic team. Syria have big potential to compete at the Asian level."

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