‘I’VE SCORED NEARLY 250 GOALS ... THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF MY LIFE’
▶ Prolific striker Omar Al Somah talks to John McAuley about the huge impact scoring for Syria in Iran had on his country
Omar Al Somah watches back a video of what he considers the most significant of the hundreds of goals he has plundered and, for the first time during the 45 minutes in his company, he falls silent.
He watches as he scores against Iran in late 2017, a debut goal deep into injury-time in Tehran, equalising the match and ultimately keeping alive Syria’s chances of reaching a first World Cup. He watches as his teammates swamp him in the corner of the Azadi Stadium pitch, joined immediately by substitutes and members of the Syria bench.
But 30-year-old Al Somah is listening, too. For the goal will be remembered also for the commentator calling the action; for the moment Al Somah squeezed home his shot and the point was secure and the Asian play-off made possible and the realisation that a country ravaged by civil war might just emerge on football’s grandest stage.
For the moment the commentator, lost in the emotion of it all, broke down in tears. The video quickly went viral. It soon had more than 1.2 million views on social media. Eventually, it swelled to more than two million.
Watching and listening now, clearly it still resonates with Al Somah.
“There is a story behind this video that no one knows about. I will talk about it for the first time,” says the striker, who at the time was making only his second international appearance in five years.
The political situation in Syria prevented Al Somah from representing the country between 2012 and 2017 and he returned days before, in the 3-1 victory against Qatar in Malaysia (the war obstructs the national team from playing matches at home). Victory in Tehran would guarantee the team a two-legged Asian playoff and move them to within a step of the intercontinental play-off that guarantees a World Cup place. It could even send them to Russia, should South Korea lose their final qualifier against Uzbekistan.
Two-one down to the group winners and with 90 minutes already elapsed, Al Somah
struck when all seemed lost. “Before the match, people were cheering, ‘We want Omar, we want Omar,’ so when I come, I do nothing and this makes me feel bad,” he says. “The match was decided. So I had to do something, I had to help the team win.
“At that moment, I was only praying. I was praying to Allah during the last five to 10 minutes to accomplish something in this match. Then the ball came to me. I was so anxious I have not had any opportunity. I kicked it with a first touch; it is hard to kick a ball like that. Praise to Allah, I was successful.”
Al Somah and teammates did not know what was happening in the other Group A match, that South Korea were held to a goalless draw in Uzbekistan. A point in Tehran was enough for a play-off. Against all odds, Syria’s improbable run had sustained.
“We were so happy on the bus on our way back to the hotel,” Al Somah says. “People were dancing and cheering. I watched people [online] on my mobile. Syrian people had not felt that happy since the beginning of the crisis, for seven years. I was watching how people were happy in all provinces.”
When the team arrived back at their hotel, they sought out the head of Syria’s General Sports Federation. Al Somah had a few days until he needed to return to Al Ahli, his club in Saudi Arabia, so asked if he could fly with his teammates to Syria to share in his compatriots’ joy. A flight was promptly arranged.
“I had not been in Syria for seven years,” he says. “I visited my homeland and saw how people were happy. We were on TV. The president honoured us. These were wonderful moments.
“I’ve scored nearly 250 goals and this was the most important goal in my life; not the most beautiful but the most important because we reached the play-off. I pray we strike another more important goal in the World Cup finals.”
They went on to lose the play-off to Australia, when Al Somah struck in the first leg to secure a 1-1 draw and was the width of a post away in the return match of carrying his country through. In the final minute of extra time, his free kick cannoned back off the hosts’ post. Australia prevailed 3-2 on aggregate.
Back in Syria, people used an impromptu public holiday to congregate around television screens erected in streets. For 90 minutes at least, for the first time in years, something other than bombs and bullets occupied their minds.
Al Somah is grateful that he helped offer some relief.
“This goal against Iran and the match caused many changes in Syria and the Syrian people,” he says. “This goal resolved many things after the crisis. Praise to Allah, I was the reason [behind the change]. I have been blessed and this was my first goal. Imagine how things would have been if I had not scored before the match ended.”
If ultimately it wasn’t enough, Al Somah has set about making amends in Syria’s quest for the 2022 tournament. Three matches into the second stage of qualification, he has seven goals, securing three victories for his side and hoisting them to the summit of Group A. He is the lead marksman and leader on the pitch as well, captain of his country and carrier of its dreams of reaching that global finals. It is a burden he seems to wear well.
“It is not [only] the team, but the whole country depends on me,” Al Somah says. “I always receive messages on social media or from people, who see me in the street, telling me ‘You have a responsibility, we are counting on you, after Allah.’”
That comes across throughout the course of this extended conversation. It takes place in the presidential suite of a Dubai hotel, which feels fitting considering Al Somah’s stately stock in Gulf football and across Asia. He is the highest-scoring import to have played in Saudi football, with 149 goals in 161 games since joining Al Ahli in 2014.
Playing home fixtures in Dubai undoubtedly helps – “we feel like we are playing in Syria. This makes a huge difference and greatly motivates us” –so, too, that Al Somah is available from the onset.
Even considering all he has accomplished thus far, guiding Syria to football’s apex would undeniably constitute his pinnacle.
“Of course, this is the biggest tournament in the world; the most viewed,” Al Somah says. “All football players, with no exception, have dreamt to make it to the World Cup. It is the talk of the town, the people’s dream.
“Every team who did not make it dreams of getting there. Personally, I’ve lived that dream since I was a child. I’d love to play with the team until I reach the World Cup. Inshallah, we can realise that dream.”
People were dancing and cheering. Syrian people had not felt that happy since the beginning of the crisis, for seven years