Christian Saba

Christian Saba

Saba in action for Bayern Munich II
Personal information
Date of birth	(1978-12-29) 29 December 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Accra, Ghana
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Bayern Munich U19 (team manager)
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)
2012–2014	1906 Haidhausen
Total		286	(8)
International career
	Ghana U17	9	(1)
1996	Ghana U23
1996–1997	Ghana	4	(0)
Managerial career
2015–2019	Bayern Munich U16 (assistant)
2019–2021	Bayern Munich U19 (assistant)
2021–	Bayern Munich U19 (team manager)
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 professional footballer who played as a central defender. He is the team official of Bayern Munich U19.

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.

Saba joined Bayern Munich's youth system in 1995 at the age of 16, alongside compatriot Emanuel Bentil. Neither was 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]

Personal life

His brother Robert Saba was also a footballer who played for Accra Hearts of Oak. The duo lost their father Daniel Saba in 2017. ^{[5] [6]}

Honours

Bayern Munich II

• IFA Shield: 2005

Maccabi Netanya

• Liga Leumit: 2013–14 ^[7]

Ghana U17

• FIFA U-17 World Championship: 1995

References

1. "Toni in der Zweiten: Louis van Gaal gibt grünes Licht" [Toni in the reserves: Louis van Gaal gives thumbs up] (in German). kicker. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
2. "Saba: Ex-Bayern-Profi in der Kreisklasse" [Saba: Former Bayern pro in the district class] (in German). Fussball. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
3. "Bundesliga: Vermißter Christian Saba wieder aufgetaucht" [Missing Christian Saba reappeared]. Der Spiegel (in German). 20 July 1999. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
4. "Ghana – Italy 3:2 (1:2)". FIFA.com. 23 July 1996. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
5. Okine, Sammy Heywood (25 December 2016). "Saba Brothers Lose Dad". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
6. "Ex Hearts of Oak stars Christian and Robert Saba lose father; burial fixed for January 27". GhanaSoccernet. 25 December 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
7. "Ghana - C. Saba - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 May 2021.

External links

• Bayern Munich official profile (in German)
• Christian Saba at fussballdaten.de (in German)
• Christian Saba at National-Football-Teams.com