Sameh Maraaba

Sameh Maraaba
Personal information
Full name Sameh Maraaba
Date of birth (1992-03-19) 19 March 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Qalqilya, Palestine
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Al-Sareeh
Number 6
Youth career
–2012 Jabal Al-Mukaber
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 Jabal Al-Mukaber
2012–2014 Hilal Al-Quds
2014–2015 Islami Qalqilya
2015 Shabab Yatta
2015–2016 Shabab Al-Khader
2016–2017 Thaqafi Tulkarem
2017–2018 Ahli Al-Khaleel
2018–2019 Shabab Al-Khalil
2019–2022 Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari
2022–2024 Jabal Al-Mukaber
2024 Al Khalij
2024– Al-Sareeh
International career‡
2015– Palestine 41 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 September 2023

Sameh Maraaba (born 19 March 1992) is a Palestinian footballer who plays for Al-Sareeh as a forward in the Jordanian Pro League and for the Palestine national team.

Career

Maraaba made his professional international debut for Palestine in 2015 during Second round World Cup qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Saudi Arabia.[1] The very next game, against Malaysia he scored twice, in Palestine's 6-0 surprise routing.[2]

International goals

Scores and results list Palestine's goal tally first.[3]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 16 May 2015 Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Malaysia 2–0 6–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 4–0
3. 7 June 2017 Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain  Bahrain 1–0 2–0 Friendly
4. 10 October 2017 Dora International Stadium, Hebron, Palestine  Bhutan 4–0 10–0 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5. 14 November 2017 Arab American University Stadium, Jenin, Palestine  Maldives 3–0 8–1 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
6. 5–1
7. 6–1
8. 8–1
9. 10 October 2018 Cox's Bazar Stadium, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh  Bangladesh 2–0 2–0 2018 Bangabandhu Cup
10. 16 December 2018 Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Pakistan 2–0 2–0 Friendly
11. 25 January 2020 Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh  Burundi 2–0 3–1 2020 Bangabandhu Cup
12. 18 January 2021 Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait  Kuwait 1–0 1–0 Friendly

Personal life

Maraaba would have made his debut for Palestine a lot sooner, however he was embroiled within the political turmoil that surrounds Palestine as a nation. Maraaba was arrested by the Israeli Defence Force on 28 April 2014 at the border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank as he returned from a training camp in Qatar.[4] A spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed they had "concrete information that he was carrying, or was involved in the potential transfer of communication equipment and finance on behalf of Hamas".[5] Maraaba denied the claims, with the Palestinian Football Association claiming that he had been "carrying money back to his football club which had been given to him by an ex-colleague of the club who had previously been jailed by Israel as a member of Hamas".[5] As a result, Maraaba was detained for a period of 7 months, resulting in him missing Palestine's 2014 AFC Challenge Cup campaign (in which Palestine would ultimately win, qualifying for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in the process), the 2014 Asian Games (in which Palestine made the Round of 16), and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Saudi Arabia v Palestine". SBS. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Woeful hosts Malaysia demolished by Palestine in World Cup qualifier". ESPN. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Maraba, Sameh". National Football Teams. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Sameh Mar'aba Freed!". Football Palestine. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b Goldberg, Dan (14 April 2015). "How the Palestinian national football team beat the odds in battle to get to Asian Cup in Australia". ABC News. Retrieved 17 June 2015.