Sebastián Soria


Andrés Sebastián Soria Quintana commonly known as Sebastián Soria, is a Uruguayan-born Qatari professional footballer who plays as a striker for Al-Rayyan SC and the Qatar national team. He was shortlisted for the Asian Footballer of the Year award in 2008, coming in third place. He currently holds the record for the fastest goal scored in AFC Champions League history at 9 seconds – a record which was set in 2013 when he was playing for Lekhwiya.

Club career

Early career

As a youngster, Soria had an unsuccessful trial at Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting in Montevideo.
Soria continued playing in the minor leagues and a new chance soon emerged. In 2001, a cyclist, who had watched Soria playing in the minor leagues and was impressed by his talents, brought him to the attention of a football agent he knew, and Soria was sent to Montevideo to play in Liverpool de Montevideo, where he played under coach Julio Ribas. He was sent to the reserve team for a brief while before making it back on the first team. He eventually proved his value and ended up playing the rest of the 2003 season on the first team.
In mid-2004, Soria got an offer from Frenchman Bruno Metsu to play for Al-Gharafa in Qatar. He had to look Qatar up on a map as he was unsure of where it was located. Nevertheless, he accepted the proposal despite the geographical uncertainty. He arrived in Qatar in 2004 and was naturalized in 2006.

Al Gharafa

Soria joined Al Gharafa in 2004 under the supervision of Bruno Metsu. It was the first time he had played outside of Uruguay. He won the 2004–05 Qatar Stars League with Al Gharafa.

Qatar SC

Soria transferred to Qatar SC from league winners Al Gharafa in 2005. He won the Qatar Crown Prince Cup with the club in 2009. He attracted interest from Europe, with Italian team Udinese and Spanish capital sides Getafe and Atletico Madrid scouting him. However, he chose to extend his contract with Qatar SC in 2010.

AC Milan vs Al Sadd

When AC Milan came to visit Doha in March 2009, in a farewell match for Jafal Rashed Al-Kuwari, Soria guested for Al Sadd. "They invited me to play for Al Sadd, so of course I said yes. I like to play against the strong defenders," Soria said after his scuffles with Milan defender Philippe Senderos. After being substituted, Soria was swarmed by local fans and patiently signed autographs for approximately 15 minutes.

Lekhwiya

After transferring to Qatari champions Lekhwiya, Soria had the opportunity to play in the 2013 AFC Champions League. He scored 4 goals in Lekhwiya's first four group stage games, including one of the fastest goals in any Asian competition after 9 seconds against Pakhtakor on 9 April 2013. It was alleged to be the fastest goal in Asia's premier continental club competition during the AFC Champions League format.

Al Rayyan

Soria joined Al-Rayyan SC on a one-year deal in 2015.

International career

Soria was born and raised in Paysandú, but moved to Qatar early in his footballing career and became a naturalized citizen. He won a gold medal in the 2006 Asian Games for the Qatar U-23 team. The official Qatar SC website has him listed as being born in 1984. In addition, QFA's website lists his actual date of birth as 1983.
Soria saved the Qatari national team by scoring in the last 20 minutes, which helped tie the score. This happened in the AFC 2007 in both their games, one against Japan, and the other just recently against Vietnam. He also scored the leading goal against the United Arab Emirates. He is the only Qatari player to score on the 2007 Asian Cup. He scored three goals.
Soria scored a goal against eventual winners Japan in the 2011 Asian Cup quarterfinals but the homeside were silenced after a late goal from Inoha put Japan in the lead to win by a 3–2 victory. However, he was not included in Djamel Belmadi's squad for 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

International career statistics

Last update: 28/3/2017.
CompetitionAppearancesGoals
Pan Arab Games10
Asian Cup74
Asian Cup Qualifier72
Arabian Gulf Cup130
FIFA World Cup qualifiers3810
Friendlies5724
Total12340

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 July 2007Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam1–11–12007 AFC Asian Cup
2.12 July 2007Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam1–11–12007 AFC Asian Cup
3.16 July 2007Quân khu 7 Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam1–01–22007 AFC Asian Cup
4.16 October 2007Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–13–2Friendly
5.21 October 2007Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka1–01–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.28 October 2007Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–05–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.28 October 2007Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar4–05–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.4 March 2008Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–01–2Friendly
9.16 March 2008Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–02–1Friendly
10.23 May 2008Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–11–1Friendly
11.27 May 2008Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–12–1Friendly
12.27 May 2008Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–12–1Friendly
13.7 June 2008Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin, China1–01–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.20 August 2008Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–05–0Friendly
15.10 September 2008Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–01–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.30 December 2008Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–15–2Friendly
17.21 March 2009Aleppo International Stadium, Aleppo, Syria1–02–1Friendly
18.21 March 2009Aleppo International Stadium, Aleppo, Syria2–02–1Friendly
19.8 October 2009Stadion Kantrida, Rijeka, Croatia2–22–3Friendly
20.16 December 2010Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–02–1Friendly
21.22 December 2010Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–02–0Friendly
22.21 January 2011Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–02–32011 AFC Asian Cup
23.11 November 2011Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar4–04–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
24.3 June 2012Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon1–01–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
25.6 September 2012Audi Sportpark, Ingolstadt, Germany1–21–2Friendly
26.7 November 2012Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–02–1Friendly
27.14 November 2012Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–01–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
28.9 September 2013Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–11–1Friendly
29.13 October 2013Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar6–06–02015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
30.15 November 2013Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates1–04–12015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
31.6 October 2014Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–03–0Friendly
32.24 March 2016Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
33.18 August 2016Swissporarena, Luzern, Switzerland1–03–2Friendly
34.18 August 2016Swissporarena, Luzern, Switzerland2–13–2Friendly
35.18 August 2016Swissporarena, Luzern, Switzerland3–23–2Friendly
36.29 September 2016Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–03–0Friendly
37.29 September 2016Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–03–0Friendly
38.29 September 2016Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar3–03–0Friendly
39.6 October 2016Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, South Korea2–12–32018 FIFA World Cup qualification
40.17 January 2017Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar1–01–1Friendly

Honours

Club

Al Gharafa
Qatar SC
Lekhwiya
Al Rayyan