International Career
Al-Habsi began playing in his native country Oman at the age of seventeen, and joined the ranks of the Oman under-19s squad, before he was spotted by John Burridge in 2001. Due to the difficulty of securing a work permit, he was unable to move to Europe at this early stage of his career.
He was called-up for Oman, and played in all of their three group matches at the 2004 AFC Asian Cup in China and also made four appearances for the team in their qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which they excelled in the first group stage after finishing second in a group with Japan, India and Singapore. He was also Oman's first-choice goalkeeper at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, appearing in all of their three group matches.
Al-Habsi also has appeared as main keeper in 4 consecutive Gulf Cups. In each tournament he earned the award for best goalkeeper, most recently at the 2009 Gulf Cup of Nations. He kept a clean sheet throughout the 2009 tournament that Oman eventually won.
Al-Habsi has been capped 79 times for Oman.
Read more about this topic: Ali Al-Habsi
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