Sameh Maraaba


Sameh Maraaba is a Palestinian footballer who plays for Al-Sareeh as a forward in the Jordanian Pro League and for the Palestine national team.

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. The very next game, against Malaysia he scored twice, in Palestine's 6-0 surprise routing.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 May 2015Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.16 May 2015Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia4–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.7 June 2017Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain1–02–0Friendly
4.10 October 2017Dora International Stadium, Hebron, Palestine4–010–02019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
5.14 November 2017Arab American University Stadium, Jenin, Palestine3–08–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
6.14 November 2017Arab American University Stadium, Jenin, Palestine5–18–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
7.14 November 2017Arab American University Stadium, Jenin, Palestine6–18–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
8.14 November 2017Arab American University Stadium, Jenin, Palestine8–18–12019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
9.10 October 2018Cox's Bazar Stadium, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh2–02–02018 Bangabandhu Cup
10.16 December 2018Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar2–02–0Friendly
11.25 January 2020Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh2–03–12020 Bangabandhu Cup
12.18 January 2021Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City, 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. 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". 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". As a result, Maraaba was detained for a period of 7 months, resulting in him missing Palestine's 2014 AFC Challenge Cup campaign, the 2014 Asian Games, and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia.