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It was perhaps not much of a surprise. Things did not seem to bode well for Yaser Hamed when Al-Rayyan announced its new signing, Shogo Taniguchi, would wear the number 3 shirt.
For the brief time, it did seem as if there would be a coexistence of sorts between the two in spite of them playing the same position. In their last match, a 2-1 loss against Al-Sadd, the Japanese international and the Palestine international played together, Hamed wore the number 20.
Al-Rayyan is struggling in all aspects on the pitch with the side languishing in the relegation zone after nine rounds of play. There are many reasons to why the team is not playing well but the fans had a predictable reaction: It’s the fault of Yaser Hamed.
It has become rather fashionable in the Arab World to lay blame at the feet of a Palestinian player taking up a foreign player spot- exile him- and spring for a quick fix. Yaser Hamed fell victim to that and will have to choose his next club wisely having received ill treatment in stints in Bahrain, Egypt, and Qatar. He is by far not the only one to fall victim to this type of treatment: Mohammed Saleh experienced it at Al-Masry, Mahmoud Wadi at Pyramids FC, Saleh Chihadeh at Future FC, and Musab Al-Battat is experiencing it at Cleopatra FC.
His time in Egypt shows that he is more than capable of playing at the elite level in the Arab World. Yes, the QSL receives more European stars looking for a payday but the average Egyptian player is far better than the average Qatari player. A quick look at Qatar’s record in continental competitions compared to Egypt’s should settle any debate.
Al-Rayyan was not a good fit for Yaser Hamed but the team’s other foreign stars are not blameless. Steven N’zonzi, Yohan Boli, the naturalized Dame Traore, the long departed James Rodriguez, and above all management should also shoulder the blame for an atrocious season.
Yaser Hamed has not announced what his next move will be but as it stands he will be free to join the national team training camp next month ahead of the WAFF Championship.
