Majed Ahmed Abdullah (Arabic: مَاجِد أَحْمَد عَبْد الله; born 11 January 1959) is a Saudi Arabian former professional footballer who played as a striker for Al-Nassr and the Saudi Arabia national team. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for Saudi Arabia with 72 goals in 117 games. At the club level, he is the record goal scorer for Al-Nassr and the all-time top scorer of the Saudi Pro League.[1][2][3] He was often referred to by his nickname "The Arabian Pelé".[4]
Majed Abdullah is regarded as one of the greatest Western Asian strikers of all time. He was nominated for IFFHS Asia's Player of the Century, finishing third place.[5] He spent his entire club career at Al-Nassr, and scored 189 league goals in a twenty-one-year career. During this time, Al-Nassr established themselves as one of the dominant forces in Saudi and Asian football. With Abdullah leading the attack, Al-Nassr won five League titles and four King Cup titles as well as the 1997–98 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. Abdullah also finished as the Saudi League top scorer six times throughout his career. Majed Abdullah retired from football in 1998, after Al-Nassr's Asian Cup Winners' Cup Final victory over Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
His success was not limited to the domestic stage. In 1984 Saudi Arabia qualified for their first-ever global international tournament at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Abdullah scored their only goal as Saudi Arabia lost all three group games. International success did come in 1984, however, in the Asian Cup in Singapore. Saudi Arabia beat China 2–0 in the final to take the title for the first time, with Abdullah scoring the second goal. Four years later in 1988, he would score twice in the tournament in Qatar as the Saudi team retained the title by beating South Korea on penalties.[6]
Early life
Majed was born[7] in the Al-Baghdadia District in Jeddah. Majed is the second son of Ahmed Abdullah. Living close to a sports club alongside being the son of a football manager piqued Majed's interest in football. In the mid-1960s, Abdullah and his family moved to Riyadh where his father got a job as the manager of Al-Nassr's youth team. Abdullah enrolled in Al-Jazaeria Elementary School and he passionately watched the older kids play football. A couple of years later, Majed joined the school football team as well as the neighborhood team. He used to play as a goalkeeper. One day the team's striker was absent and Majed had to replace him. This position change proved to be successful as Majed guided his team to a 3–1 victory. Abdullah's family moved to Hotat Khaled District and the young Abdullah joined Al-Motawasta Al-Thania high school. Majed and his neighbors formed a team they called "Al-Ittifaq". They tried to participate in a tournament but their request was rejected due to their young age. They did not give up and challenged one of Riyadh's best neighborhood teams for a place in that tournament. Al-Ittifaq won the match 3–1 with Abdullah scoring twice. Al-Ittifaq participated in the tournament and they went on to win the championship.[8][9][10]
Club career
Mohammed Al-Hudayan, a teammate at Al-Ittifaq, recommended Abdullah to Al-Nassr president Prince Abdulrahman Bin Saud, as did Al-Ittifaq's coach Nasseb Awad to Khaled Al-Turki and Al-Nassr coach Ljubiša Broćić.[11] Broćić went to see Abdullah unannounced at Al-Ittifaq's training field in Al-Batha and requested that the club sign him. Abdullah officially joined Al-Nassr on 10 November 1975.[12]
Abdullah spent 2 years playing for the youth teams before being promoted to the senior team. He made his senior debut in a friendly against Moroccan side Al-Fath in January 1977. He made his competitive debut on 20 January 1977 by coming off the bench in the league match against Al-Shabab replacing Ibrahim Al-Hamoud.[13] Abdullah once again came off the bench in the 2–1 defeat to Al-Qadsiah on 14 March 1977 to make his second appearance for Al-Nassr.[14] On 18 March, Abdullah made his first start as well as score his first goal for Al-Nassr, when he headed in Nasser Al-Johar's cross, in the league match against Al-Wehda.[15] Following an injury to first-choice striker Mohammad Al-Abdeli, Abdullah was given a chance to prove himself. He repaid that trust by scoring three goals in the final three rounds of the league against Al-Shabab, Al-Ahli and derby rivals Al-Hilal.[16] On 5 May 1977, Abdullah scored twice in the 4–0 against Hajer in the 1977 King Cup.[17] He then scored twice against Al-Nahda in the Round of 16 and scored the opener in the 2–1 win against Al-Qadsiah in the quarter-finals.[18] Al-Nassr were eventually eliminated in the semi-finals by Al-Hilal.[19] He ended his first season at Al-Nassr scoring nine goals in ten appearances. Abdullah started his second season with Al-Nassr poorly, failing to score in his first three matches. On 4 November 1977, Abdullah scored a brace against Al-Nahda to score his first goals of the 1977–78 season.[20] He then scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Al-Qadsiah on 10 November.[21] Abdullah scored his fourth goal of the season in a 1–0 win against Al-Ittihad.[22] On 29 December, Abdullah was injured and forced to leave the pitch in the derby against Al-Hilal.[23] He made his return on 12 January 1978 and scored in the 2–1 win against Al-Ettifaq.[24] On 17 February, Abdullah scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win against Al-Nahda, his sixth of the season.[25] On 2 March, Abdullah scored his first hattrick for Al-Nassr in the 4–0 win against Ohod.[26] On 10 March, he scored his second hattrick in the 3–1 away win against Al-Ittihad.[27] On 30 March, Abdullah scored twice against Al-Shate'e in the Round of 32 of the 1978 King Cup.[28] Al-Nassr were eliminated by eventual champions Al-Ahli in the Round of 16. Majed ended the 1977–78 season scoring 14 goals in 19 appearances.
Majed Abdullah finished as the Saudi League top scorer 6 times in his career. He also won the League 4 times as well as the King Cup 4 times. Majed is the all-time top scorer of the Saudi League with 189 goals and is also Al-Nassr's all-time top scorer with 260 goals. Majed Abdullah announced his retirement on 12 April 1998 following Al-Nassr's win in the 1998 Asian Cup Winner's Cup in front of 70,000 fans in Riyadh.[29]
International career
Early years
Majed made his senior team debut in 1978 in an unofficial friendly against Portuguese giants Benfica where he scored 2 goals. His official debut was against China on 10 December 1978. Majed played for Saudi Arabia in the 1979 Arabian Gulf Cup, scoring 7 goals in 6 matches, and notably scoring five against Qatar in a 7–0 win.[30] He continued to play in the Arabian Gulf Cup, participating in the 1982, 1984 and 1986 tournaments.
International success
Majed represented his country at the 1984 AFC Asian Cup, first scoring a 90th-minute equalizer against South Korea in the group stage, then scoring again in the final against China to help Saudi Arabia secure their first Asian Cup title.[31] He played in the next tournament in 1988, scoring a goal against Iran in the semi-finals and then converting his kick in the penalty shoot-out of the final against South Korea as his side retained their title.[32] Majed also represented Saudi Arabia in the 1984 Summer Olympics, scoring a goal against Brazil.
Later years
He helped the country to a silver medal at the 1986 Asian Games, as well as another silver medal at the 1992 Arab Cup. Majed marked his last appearances for Saudi Arabia at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, then retired from international football shortly afterwards.[33]
On 20 May 2008, 10 years after Abdullah's last match, a testimonial match was held between Al-Nassr and Real Madrid, who were just crowned with their 31st La Liga title. The match was held at Al-Nassr's home ground, the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.[55] Al-Nassr won the match 4–1 with 70,000 fans in attendance. The match saw players from other clubs such as Mohamed Al-Deayea, Malek Mouath and Nashat Akram represent Al-Nassr. Arjen Robben broke the deadlock at the 50th before Mouath and Akram scored in quick succession. Saud Kariri then added a third in the 61st before Mouath scored the fourth goal in the first minute of stoppage time.[56]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
