Talal Yousef

Infobox Football biography
playername = Talal Yousif


fullname = Talal Yousef Mohammed Mahmood
nickname = Talalinho
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1975|2|24|df=y
cityofbirth =
countryofbirth = Bahrain
height =
currentclub = Bahrain Riffa Club
clubnumber = 13
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = -2004
2004-2007
2007-"present"
clubs = Al Riffa
Al Kuwait Kaifan
Al Qadisiya Kuwait
caps(goals) =
nationalyears =
nationalteam = Bahrain
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Talal Yousif Mohammed, known mainly as Talal Yousif, (born 24 February 1975) is a Bahraini footballer currently playing with Bahrain Riffa Club. Talal plays mainly as an offensive midfielder and sometimes as a striker. He plays the same role for the Bahrain national football team and his club Kuwait SC as Italy's Francesco Totti does for AS Roma and 2006 World Cup winners Italy. At 29 years of age Yousif has had an illustrious career playing for a number of clubs and the Bahrain National Team. He wears the famous number 13 shirt for both his club and his country.

Start of Career

Talal started off his career with a small club Isa Town. Known as Madinat Isa, this is the club that produced fellow Bahraini football star Salman Ghuloom, known as Salman Isa. At one point Talal captained the Isa Town squad. After some amazing performances he was noted by Bahrain Riffa Club, formerly known as West Riffa or Al Riffa Al Gharbi which lead to signing him along with Salman Isa for an undisclosed fee.

Al Riffa Club

After signing for Al Riffa (Riffa Club), Talal Yousif made a huge impact. He helped them to the league title and the Crown Prince Cup and established himself as the superstar of Al Riffa. He became immensely popular in Bahrain. He was especially known for his amazing free kicks and was nicknamed "The Beckham of Bahrain" for that. Even though there was huge rivalry between the 3 big clubs of Bahraini football Al Riffa , Muharraq , and Al Ahli , all fans of all team simply adored Talal Yousif. He became even more popular for his funny goal celebrations. After he would score, he would run close to the corner flag and do his own dance. At the end he would fall to the ground and his teammates would jump on him.

Asian Cup

During the 2004 Asian Cup, Talal Yousif peaked and put on his best performances. He scored two goals, one coming from his trademark free kick against fierce rivals Iran in the 3rd and 4th place playoff. Talal Yousif was named in the team of the tournament along with fellow Bahraini's A'ala Hubail , who was joint top scorer, and Mohamed Salmeen .In this tournament the Bahraini National Team had their best ever performance at a major tournament as they reached the semi finals. Talal Yousif was a major part of that success and after the tournament he was named Captain of the National team.

Kuwait

After the Asian Cup Success many of Bahrain's top players headed for Qatar although Talal opted for a move to Kuwait. He was later joined by immensely Talented Bahraini defender Hussain Ali Baba who was another former Al Riffa player. At Kuwait SC Talal became a firm fan favorite and his amazing displays made him one of the most respected Arab players in the world. When Kuwait SC did not renew his contract, he then signed with Qadsiya for the 2007/08 season.

Retirement

Talal announced his official retirement from International Football in January 2006, then was convinced to return and helped Bahrain qualify for the Asian Cup 2007. He also stayed on for the 18th GCC Cup and then announced his final retirement from International Competitions.