Salman Isa Ghuloom ( ar, سلمان عيسى; born 12 July 1977), known to many as just Salman Isa, is a retired

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

i footballer who played as a winger or a wingback.

World Cup Qualifiers

Salman is noted for scoring for

in the Asia-Concacaf playoff qualifier for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

in Germany against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. In doing so he gave Bahrain the lead, playing away at Port of Spain in the first leg. That gave Bahrain the advantage to qualify for the World Cup, but Trinidad's

Chris Birchall Christopher Birchall CM (born 5 May 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He scored 21 goals in 322 league and cup appearances in a 16-year professional career, and scored four goals in 44 international matches. ...

equalized to end the match.Bahrain Stay On Course
/ref> In the second Leg in Bahrain,

Dennis Lawrence Dennis William Lawrence CM (born 1 August 1974) is a Trinidad and Tobago former professional footballer and current first-team coach at Coventry City. He was the manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team from 2017 to 2019. Prior to coa ...

scored to give Trinidad and Tobago the win and help them qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, for the first time in their history.

Club career

Ghuloom has played for a number of clubs during his footballing career. At 28 he is a very experienced footballer. Ghuloom started his career at small first division (the 2nd tier of Bahraini football) club Isa Town or Madinat Isa. This club produced former Bahrain national team captain, and Ghuloom's teammate, Talal Yousif. Ghuloom's excellent performance for the club prompted one of the three big Bahraini clubs, Al Riffa, to sign him along with Isa Town teammate

Talal Yousef Talal Yousef Mohammed (born 24 February 1975), known mainly as Talal Yousef, is a former Bahraini footballer. Yousef played mainly as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a striker. He is currently retired from playing with the Bahrain nat ...

. After signing for Al Riffa he made a huge impact helping them to the Bahraini Premiership title in 2002–2003. During his time at Al Riffa he played under Bahraini Manager Riyadh Al Thawadi who would go on to manage the Bahrain national team for one match against Kuwait. Salman Isa plays his trade for Al-Arabi of

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

currently and is one of the most consistent players at the club.

Glory Days

Ghuloom is known for his hardworking and tireless displays on the wing, but as Talal Yousif who was deployed as a more offensive player for Al Riffa left for

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional association football, football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies ...

, Riyadh Al Thawadi decided to push Ghuloom upfield and play him as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. This decision proved to be vital as Ghuloom scored 15 goals as a striker, leaving him as the league's top scorer. Ghuloom's amazing form also helped Al Riffa to the 2004–2005 league championship and the

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

. In which Ghuloom scored in the final. Ghuloom's best for the national team came in the 2004 Gulf Arabian Cup in Qatar. Ghuloom scored an amazing goal in the historic 3–0 win over Bahrain's fierce rivals and neighbors, the more famous Saudi Arabia. Ghuloom's hardworking ethics paid off as Bahrain again qualified for the semi finals although they were knocked out by Oman. Nevertheless, Bahrain still finished in third place. After the 2004–2005 season Ghuloom's amazing displays prompted Al Arabi of Qatar, where fellow national team player and captain Mohamed Salmeen plays, to sign Ghuloom from then Bahraini champions Al Riffa. At Al Riffa Ghuloom was a cult hero and fans referred to him as "AL JANAH AL TAER" which means the flying wing, for his speedy runs through the wings. At Al Arabi, Ghuloom continued to display good form although there he was being used mostly as a defender or wing back. Currently Salman Isa is defending the colors of Al-Arabi and is the captain of the club.

International career

Asian Cup 2004

In 2004 Bahrain qualified for the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

in China. Although Salman missed the many games of the tournament due to injury, he still managed to play a few matches in Bahrain's run to the Semi Finals. After the Asian Cup, most of the members of the national team were signed by big Qatari clubs such as

Al Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multisports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was estab ...

, Al Arabi, and

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled as ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipality in the state of Qatar. Its primary settlement is the city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and largely surrounds Metropolitan Doha and funct ...

. Team players such as Mohamed Ahmed Salmeen and Alaa Hubail moved on to Qatar. While others like Talal Yousif for instance decided to move to Kuwait. After this The Bahraini Premiership appeared to have lost some of its most important players. Although the loss of many national team members meant the rise of Salman.

References

External links

*
Salman Isa Ghuloom - Century of International Appearances
- RSSSF.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Isa, Salman 1977 births Living people Bahraini footballers Expatriate footballers in Qatar Bahrain international footballers Bahraini expatriates in Qatar Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players riffa SC players manama Club players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players FIFA Century Club Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Association football fullbacks Qatar Stars League players Bahraini Premier League players Asian Games competitors for Bahrain Bahraini people of Pakistani descent