Sameh Maraaba

Sameh Maraaba (born 19 March 1992) is a Palestinian association footballer who currently plays for Jabal Al-Mukaber as a forward in the West Bank Premier League, and for the Palestine national team.

Sameh Maraaba
Personal information
Full name Sameh Maraaba
Date of birth (1992-03-19) 19 March 1992
Place of birth Qalqilya, Palestine
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Jabal Al-Mukaber
Number 20
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2022 Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari
2022– Jabal Al-Mukaber
International career‡
2015– Palestine 40 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17.6.15
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 March 2021

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.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 May 2015Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Malaysia2–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.4–0
3.7 June 2017Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain Bahrain1–02–0Friendly
4.10 October 2017Dora International Stadium, Hebron, Palestine Bhutan4–010–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5.14 November 2017Arab American University Stadium, Jenin, Palestine Maldives3–08–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
6.5–1
7.6–1
8.8–1
9.10 October 2018Cox's Bazar Stadium, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh Bangladesh2–02–02018 Bangabandhu Cup
10.16 December 2018Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar Pakistan2–02–0Friendly
11.25 January 2020Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Burundi2–03–12020 Bangabandhu Cup
12.18 January 2021Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait Kuwait1–01–0Friendly

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. "Sameh Mar'aba Freed!". Football Palestine. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  5. 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.
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