Nasser Al Shamrani should consider himself a lucky man.
When Luis Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil, football turned its back on him.
Fifa threw him out of the tournament, he received hefty international and club bans, and despite a fine season at Liverpool, the Uruguayan was nowhere to be seen in the list of nominees for the 2014 Ballon d’Or.
By comparison, Al Shamrani got off lightly for his lack of discipline. The Al Hilal striker disgraced himself by butting Matthew Spiranovic of Western Sydney Wanderers in the closing minutes of the Asian Champions League final second leg, as well as spitting at him shortly after it ended.
A month later, on the day he received an eight-match Champions League ban, he won the 2014 Asian Footballer of the Year award, presented by Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president.
“I’m proud of myself that I am the best player of the year. For anything else, please talk to AFC,” a seemingly unrepentant Al Shamrani said at the time.
Such petulance, which continued last week when he clashed with a supporter before Saudi Arabia’s friendly match with Bahrain, is hard to fathom considering the ruling left him free to lead the Saudi attack at the Asian Cup in Australia and to continue taking part in domestic matches.
While many remain disgusted by his behaviour, the news will delight fans of Saudi, and even Asian, football; Al Shamrani remains a wonderful player to watch when on form. And in 2014, his form often hit spectacular heights.
The striker, 31, is arguably at the peak of his career and, purely on his footballing exploits, deserves some of the accolades that have come his way.
In Australia, Al Shamrani will once again be his country’s star. Group opponents China and North Korea should hold little fear for him, and only Uzbekistan can challenge Saudi for top spot in the group.
Beyond that, it will depend on the luck of the draw, and Saudi Arabia will hope the Al Hilal triumvirate of Al Shamrani, Salem Al Dawsari and Nawaf Al Abed can carry the team through to the later stages.
Al Shamrani has played down his individual achievements.
“A player plays not for himself, but for a team,” Al Shamrani had said in an isolated bout of modesty after his AFC coronation. “So I say to my club and my national team, it’s not only me winning this prize, it’s all of us.”
In many ways, 2014 was a year of near-misses for the diminutive striker.
With 10 goals he was the driving force behind Al Hilal’s march to the Champions League final.
Yet he, and the rest of the team, failed to score over the two legs and lost 1-0 on aggregate to the Australian side.
The 2013/14 domestic season brought two second-place finishes for Al Shamrani and Al Hilal, in the Saudi Premier League and the Saudi Crown Prince Cup.
Then there was the disappointment of the Gulf Cup of Nations held in Riyadh. Al Shamrani scored twice on the way to the final, only to end up with yet another runners-up medal as Qatar beat the host nation 2-1.
Perhaps Australia will bring fresh luck for Al Shamrani. This is likely his last chance to impress at this level. With his new-found notoriety, he will be under scrutiny like never before.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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