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World Player of the Week: Roda Antar - Lebanon
Join Goal.com in saluting another player worthy of global recognition, this time to a midfielder who inspired his nation to a famous victory over South Korea
21 Nov 2011 15:18:00
Mahmoud maher
Welcome to Goal.com's regular feature: Goal.com World Player of the Week. Each week our worldwide team of editors will put forward a selected candidate, as chosen by Goal.com International, who deserves recognition for achieving something special that matchday. It won't necessarily be the best player in the world - at least not usually - but whoever we nominate will have accomplished something amazing. It might be for a particularly awesome performance or for something praiseworthy off the pitch - either way, the person in question deserves special attention...
Goal.com World Player of the Week #131: Roda Antar
Club: Shandong Luneng
Country: Lebanon
Age: 31
Role: Midfielder
Achievement: Inspired his nation to victory over South Korea
Lebanon registered a shocking 2-1 win against South Korea in the third phase of qualification for the 2014 World Cup finals in the Asian zone in Beirut on Tuesday, and at the heart of this extraordinary triumph was Roda Antar.
The Shandong Luneng midfielder was involved in the first goal as it was his blocked shot that Ali Al Saadi eventually lashed home after five minutes.
Antar continued to pose problems for the Koreans and on 65 minutes came close to etching his name on the scoresheet when his header came off the woodwork.
The victory means that Lebanon now only need a draw against the UAE to book their place in the fourth stage of qualification.
The result sparked wide-scale celebrations in the country, leading the nation’s Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, to take to Twitter and enthuse: "Delighted and proud of our national football team. Congrats to all."
Congratulations to Roda Antar, Goal.com's 131st World Player of the Week!
Honourable Mentions
Adriano - Corinthians
Adriano has been out with injury for most of the year but looks revitalised to some extent. The Brazilian striker scored the winning goal in Corinthians’ 2-1 victory over Atletico Mineiro at the Pacaembu stadium on Sunday with a delightful finish from an acute angle inside the penalty area. It was the 29-year-old’s first goal for the Brazilian giants since joining them in March 2011.
Enam Mendomo Alexis - Club Africain
Club Africain secured a vital 1-0 win over Maghreb Fes in the Caf Confederation Cup final first-leg thanks to an early strike from Enam Mendomo Alexis. The inspired Cameroon international opened the scoring in the eighth minute and it remained 1-0 until the final whistle. Enam rose to meet a cross on the edge of Fes’ box and sliced home a superb volley to secure a narrow advantage going into the second leg.
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Landon Donovan was the star performer for Los Angeles Galaxy as they defeated Houston Dynamo 1-0 in the MLS Cup final on Sunday. Not only did the USA international score a brilliant winner at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, but he also worked hard throughout the encounter.
Mats Hummels - Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund registered a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the Bundesliga on Saturday, and their star performer was Mats Hummels. The Germany international defender stopped everything that the hosts threw at him and was always at the right place at the right time to frustrate the Bayern attackers.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal & Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo turned on the style for Portugal in the second leg of their Euro 2012 play-off tie against Bosnia & Herzegovina last week, scoring twice in their 6-2 win at home to lead his nation to the finals in Poland and Ukraine next summer. Then on Saturday the 26-year-old was crucial in Real Madrid’s 3-2 away win against Valencia, netting what proved to be the decisive goal.
Robin van Persie - Arsenal
Robin van Persie continued his great goalscoring form for Arsenal as the Gunners captain netted a brace in their 2-1 victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road in the Premier League.
| Bet: | Returns: | Lebanon £30.00 | Draw £32.00 | Qatar £21.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Lebanon £34.00 | Draw £32.00 | Qatar £21.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Lebanon £35.00 | Draw £32.50 | Qatar £21.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Lebanon £32.50 | Draw £31.00 | Qatar £20.40 |
|
Goal.com World Player of the Week #131: Roda Antar
Club: Shandong Luneng
Country: Lebanon
Age: 31
Role: Midfielder
Achievement: Inspired his nation to victory over South Korea
Lebanon registered a shocking 2-1 win against South Korea in the third phase of qualification for the 2014 World Cup finals in the Asian zone in Beirut on Tuesday, and at the heart of this extraordinary triumph was Roda Antar.
The Shandong Luneng midfielder was involved in the first goal as it was his blocked shot that Ali Al Saadi eventually lashed home after five minutes.
Antar continued to pose problems for the Koreans and on 65 minutes came close to etching his name on the scoresheet when his header came off the woodwork.
The victory means that Lebanon now only need a draw against the UAE to book their place in the fourth stage of qualification.
The result sparked wide-scale celebrations in the country, leading the nation’s Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, to take to Twitter and enthuse: "Delighted and proud of our national football team. Congrats to all."
Congratulations to Roda Antar, Goal.com's 131st World Player of the Week!
Honourable Mentions
Adriano - Corinthians
Adriano has been out with injury for most of the year but looks revitalised to some extent. The Brazilian striker scored the winning goal in Corinthians’ 2-1 victory over Atletico Mineiro at the Pacaembu stadium on Sunday with a delightful finish from an acute angle inside the penalty area. It was the 29-year-old’s first goal for the Brazilian giants since joining them in March 2011.
Enam Mendomo Alexis - Club Africain
Club Africain secured a vital 1-0 win over Maghreb Fes in the Caf Confederation Cup final first-leg thanks to an early strike from Enam Mendomo Alexis. The inspired Cameroon international opened the scoring in the eighth minute and it remained 1-0 until the final whistle. Enam rose to meet a cross on the edge of Fes’ box and sliced home a superb volley to secure a narrow advantage going into the second leg.
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy
Landon Donovan was the star performer for Los Angeles Galaxy as they defeated Houston Dynamo 1-0 in the MLS Cup final on Sunday. Not only did the USA international score a brilliant winner at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, but he also worked hard throughout the encounter.
Mats Hummels - Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund registered a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the Bundesliga on Saturday, and their star performer was Mats Hummels. The Germany international defender stopped everything that the hosts threw at him and was always at the right place at the right time to frustrate the Bayern attackers.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal & Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo turned on the style for Portugal in the second leg of their Euro 2012 play-off tie against Bosnia & Herzegovina last week, scoring twice in their 6-2 win at home to lead his nation to the finals in Poland and Ukraine next summer. Then on Saturday the 26-year-old was crucial in Real Madrid’s 3-2 away win against Valencia, netting what proved to be the decisive goal.
Robin van Persie - Arsenal
Robin van Persie continued his great goalscoring form for Arsenal as the Gunners captain netted a brace in their 2-1 victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road in the Premier League.
Leave your notes of congratulations for Roda Antar below, or discuss who else deserves a place in the spotlight this week...
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Make Your Prediction Choose match
Lebanon - Qatar
Lebanon
Qatar
Prediction Submitted
Most Popular Predictions
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Lebanon 2-1 Qatar
- 22.1 %
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Lebanon 1-2 Qatar
- 15.58 %
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Lebanon 2-0 Qatar
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
19:24 BST
No, no, no. I'll have none of that Emile Heskey shouting anymore! Hello, it's me, it's me, it's that D-O-Y-L-E. Yes, I'm Joe Doyle, and I'll be here for all the reaction to that England game. First things first, how did everyone see that game? Good performance? A touch boring? Let me know on Twitter.
19:17 BST
Right, that’s me, Danny Hart, done. Joe Doyle is itching to retain his LIVE! crown for the evening. England reaction, Netherlands-Northern Ireland updates and much, much more - Doyle will be across it all. England are gonna win the Euros! And remember: EMILE HESKEY. Cheerio!
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