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Christian Saba

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Christian Saba
Saba in action for Bayern Munich II
Personal information
Full name Christian Saba
Date of birth (1978-12-29) 29 December 1978 (age 45)
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
King Harrison
1994–1995 Hearts of Oak
1995–1996 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2011 Bayern Munich II 285 (8)
1997–2000 Bayern Munich 0 (0)
1998–1999 → Hertha BSC (loan) 1 (0)
1999–2000 → Arminia Bielefeld (loan) 0 (0)
Total 286 (8)
International career
Ghana U17 9 (1)
1996 Ghana U23
1996–1997 Ghana 4 (0)
Medal record
Bayern Munich
Winner DFB Liga-Pokal 1997
Winner DFB-Pokal 1998
Bayern Munich II
Winner Regionalliga Süd 2004
 Ghana
Winner FIFA U-17 World Championship 1995
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christian Saba (born 29 December 1978) is a Ghanaian former footballer who played as a central defender.

One of the most lengthy tenures of any foreign player with a sole team, he was never able however to make it past the reserves of Bayern Munich.

Club career

Saba was born in Accra. After appearing in his country for local King Harrison Accra and Accra Hearts of Oak, he joined FC Bayern Munich's youth system in 1995 at the age of 16, alongside compatriot Emanuel Bentil. Neither were able to break into the first team, but the former did manage to stay with the club, playing for the reserves and being an occasional standby player for the main squad.[1]

Saba's debut in the Bundesliga occurred not with Bayern, but with Hertha BSC, where he was on loan for 1998–99: on 29 May 1999, in the season's closer, he played ten minutes in a 6–1 home routing of Hamburger SV in what would be his only top flight appearance.[2] The following campaign he was loaned to Arminia Bielefeld,[3] but he did not collect one single minute of action and the team was also relegated from the top level.

From 2000 onwards Saba remained a defensive stalwart for Bayern's second team, which competed in Regionalliga Süd. He was released in June 2011 at nearly 33, after 16 years with the club.

International career

Saba was selected for Ghana's under-23 team for the 1996 Summer Olympics, alongside Bayern teammate Samuel Kuffour, and scored twice against Italy in the group stages, helping qualify the African precisely at the expense of the Europeans.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Toni in der Zweiten: Louis van Gaal gibt grünes Licht" (in German). kicker. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Saba: Ex-Bayern-Profi in der Kreisklasse" (in German). Fussball. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Bundesliga: Vermißter Christian Saba wieder aufgetaucht" (in German). Der Spiegel. 20 July 1999. Retrieved 9 May 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Ghana – Italy 3:2 (1:2)". FIFA.com. 23 July 1996. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
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