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Sami Al-Jaber
Al-Jaber in 2013
Personal information
Full name Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber
Date of birth (1972-12-11) 11 December 1972 (age 51)
Place of birth Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1986–1988 Al-Hilal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps ( Gls)
1989–2007 Al-Hilal 270 (101)
2000 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 4 (0)
Total 274 (101)
International career
1992–2006 Saudi Arabia 156 (46)
Managerial career
2011–2012 Al-Hilal (assistant)
2012–2013 Auxerre (assistant)
2013–2014 Al-Hilal
2015 Al-Wahda
2016–2017 Al-Shabab
Medal record
Men's football
Representing   Saudi Arabia
AFC Asian Cup
Winner 1996
Runner-up 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup
Runner-up 1992
Gulf Cup of Nations
Winner 1994
Winner 2002
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber ( Arabic: سامي الجابر; born 11 December 1972) is a Saudi Arabian football manager and former professional player who played as a striker. He spent the entirety of his career with Al-Hilal, apart from a five-month loan to English club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Al-Jaber is his country's second highest international goal-scorer with 46 goals in 156 internationals from 1992 to 2006. He appeared in four consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments, from 1994 to 2006, scoring in three of them. He was also a member of the Saudi squad which won the AFC Asian Cup in 1996. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Saudi footballers ever.

Club career

Al-Jaber made his Al-Hilal debut in 1989 and spent nearly 20 years at the club. In 2000, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan, [1] where he made just five appearances in five months. [2] After the club learned that Al-Jaber's father had been taken seriously ill, he was allowed to join the United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain on loan, and this was to spell the end of his time in England. [3] Even so, to this day Al-Jaber remains one of the very few Saudi footballers to have played outside their homeland.

On 21 January 2008, Al-Hilal held a testimonial for Al-Jaber against English Premier League giants Manchester United. Al-Jaber scored a penalty en route to a 3–2 victory over the visitors, in his last game for the club. [4]

International career

On 27 May 1998, Al-Jaber made his 100th international appearance in a friendly against Norway. At 25 years, four months and 16 days old, this made him the youngest male footballer to reach 100 caps. [5]

After gaining a runners-up medal in the 2000 Asian Cup, he appeared in the 2002 World Cup but only played in one game, a 0–8 hammering by Germany. He was ruled out of the rest of the competition when his appendix burst and he had to be rushed to hospital. [6]

Managerial career

Al-Jaber was named as assistant coach of Al-Hilal in 2009, one year after he retired from professional football. He worked under notable coaches like Eric Gerets, Gabriel Calderon and Thomas Doll. In 2012, he became assistant coach of Ligue 2 side Auxerre.

On 27 May 2013, Al-Jaber was named the manager of Al-Hilal, replaced former coach Zlatko Dalić. He became the first Saudi coach to manage Al-Hilal after 14 years of Khalil Ibrahim Al-Zayani in 1999. After his first season in his new career, he was ranked 19th in Football Coach World ranking, even though Al-Hilal decided to replace him. On 19 July 2014, Al Arabi announced his appointment as technical manager.

Personal life

Al-Jaber is an advocate of football reforms, having criticised the Saudi Football Federation for its protectionist policy that prevented Saudi talents from going abroad to play better football after Saudi Arabia became the first team to be knocked out of 2002 FIFA World Cup. [7]

Career statistics

International

Scores and results list Saudi Arabia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Al-Jaber goal.
List of international goals scored by Sami Al-Jaber [8]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 September 1992 Latakia, Syria   Kuwait 2–0 1992 Arab Nations Cup Group Stages
2 18 April 1993 Singapore   New Zealand 3–1 Friendly
3 24 April 1993 Singapore   New Zealand 1–0 Friendly
4 1 May 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia   Macau 6–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier
5 17 September 1993 Khobar, Saudi Arabia   Thailand 4–0 Friendly
6 28 October 1993 Doha, Qatar   Iran 4–3 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier
7 30 March 1994 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Chile 2–2 Friendly
8 27 April 1994 Athinai, Greece   Greece 5–1 Friendly match
9 25 June 1994 East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States   Morocco 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup
10 19 October 1994 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia   United States 2–1 Friendly
11 6 November 1994 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates   United Arab Emirates 1–1 1994 Gulf Cup of Nations
12 10 December 1994 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Poland 2–1 Friendly
13 8 October 1995 Washington DC, United States   United States 4–3 Friendly
14 28 October 1995 Matsuyama, Japan   Japan 2–1 Friendly
15 19 October 1996 Muscat, Oman   Qatar 2–2 1996 Gulf Cup of Nations
16 5 December 1996 Dubai, United Arab Emirates   Thailand 6–0 1996 AFC Asian Cup Group Stage
17 16 December 1996 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates   China 4–3 1996 AFC Asian Cup Quarter-finals
18 31 March 1997 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia   Chinese Taipei 6–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
19
20
21 25 September 1997 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Mali 5–1 Friendly
22
23 9 May 1998 Cannes, France   Trinidad and Tobago 2–1 Friendly
24 12 May 1998 Nice, France   Iceland 1–1 Friendly
25 17 May 1998 Cannes, France   Namibia 2–1 Friendly
26 24 June 1998 Bordeaux, France   South Africa 2–2 1998 FIFA World Cup
27 31 May 2000 Győr, Hungary   Hungary 2–2 Friendly
28 5 October 2000 Zarqa, Jordan   China 2–0 Friendly
29 10 February 2001 Dammam, Saudi Arabia   Bangladesh 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
30 12 February 2001 Dammam, Saudi Arabia   Vietnam 5–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
31
32
33 15 February 2001 Dammam, Saudi Arabia   Mongolia 6–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
34 10 July 2001 Singapore   Singapore 3–0 Friendly
35
36 15 September 2001 Bangkok, Thailand   Thailand 3–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
37 21 September 2001 Manama, Bahrain   Bahrain 4–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
38 21 October 2001 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Thailand 4–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
39 16 January 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Kuwait 1–1 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations
40 20 January 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Bahrain 3–1 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations
41 14 May 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Senegal 3–2 Friendly
42 9 February 2005 Tashkent, Uzbekistan   Uzbekistan 1–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
43 8 June 2005 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Uzbekistan 3–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
44
45 15 March 2006 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia   Iraq 2–2 Friendly
46 14 June 2006 Munich, Germany   Tunisia 2–2 2006 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Al-Hilal

Saudi Arabia

Individual

See also

References

  1. ^ Wollaston, Steve (30 April 2020). "Who is Sami Al-Jaber? The former Wolves player eyed for Newcastle United role". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  2. ^ Dixon, Jamie. "AL-JABER COMPLETES LOAN SPELL". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  3. ^ Evans, Nic. "AL-JABER GIVEN UAE LOAN". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Report: Al Hilal 3 United 2". Manchester United FC. 21 January 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  5. ^ Bryant, Tom; Gardner, Alan; Dart, James (5 December 2007). "Football: The Knowledge - the fastest ever century of international caps". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  6. ^ Alosaimi, Najah (21 January 2008). "'Sam 6' Regarded as Kingdom's Best". Arab News. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  7. ^ Church, Michael (9 June 2002). "Why you don't see Saudi players in Europe". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Roberto Mamrud & Naim Albakr. "Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Super Sami strikes gold". Asian Football Confederation. 14 May 1998. Archived from the original on 14 May 1998.
  10. ^ "Sami does it again". Asian Football Confederation. 19 February 1999. Archived from the original on 19 February 1999.
  11. ^ "The best Asian team at the FIFA World Cup announced!". Asian Football Confederation. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sami Al-Jaber.
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