Sami Al-Jaber

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Sami Al-Jaber
Sami09.JPG
Al-Jaber in 2013
Personal information
Full name Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber
Date of birth (1972-12-11) 11 December 1972 (age 53)
Place of birth Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position Forward
Youth career
1986–1988 Al-Hilal
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1989–2007 Al-Hilal 270 (101)
2000 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 4 (0)
Total274(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 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia
AFC Asian Cup
Winner 1996
Runner-up 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup
Runner-up 1992
Arabian Gulf Cup
Winner 1994
Winner 2002
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sami Abdullah Mohammed Al-Jaber (Arabic : سَامِي عَبْد الله مُحَمَّد الْجَابِر; 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.

Contents

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.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
116 September 1992 Latakia, SyriaFlag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 2–0 1992 Arab Nations Cup Group Stages
218 April 1993 Singapore Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 3–1 Friendly
324 April 1993SingaporeFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1–0Friendly
41 May 1993 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaFlag of Macau.svg  Macau 6–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier
517 September 1993 Khobar, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 4–0Friendly
628 October 1993 Doha, QatarFlag of Iran.svg  Iran 4–31994 FIFA World Cup qualifier
730 March 1994 Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Chile.svg  Chile 2–2Friendly
827 April 1994 Athinai, GreeceFlag of Greece.svg  Greece 5–1 Friendly match
925 June 1994 East Rutherford, New Jersey, United StatesFlag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup
1019 October 1994 Dhahran, Saudi ArabiaFlag of the United States.svg  United States 2–1Friendly
116 November 1994 Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesFlag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 1–1 12th Arabian Gulf Cup
1210 December 1994Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Poland.svg  Poland 2–1Friendly
138 October 1995Washington DC, United StatesFlag of the United States.svg  United States 4–3Friendly
1428 October 1995 Matsuyama, JapanFlag of Japan.svg  Japan 2–1Friendly
1519 October 1996 Muscat, Oman Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 2–2 13th Arabian Gulf Cup
165 December 1996 Dubai, United Arab EmiratesFlag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 6–0 1996 AFC Asian Cup Group Stage
1716 December 1996 Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4–3 1996 AFC Asian Cup Quarter-finals
1831 March 1997 Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986-2010).svg  Chinese Taipei 6–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
19
20
2125 September 1997Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Mali.svg  Mali 5–1Friendly
22
239 May 1998 Cannes, FranceFlag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 2–1Friendly
2412 May 1998 Nice, FranceFlag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1–1Friendly
2517 May 1998Cannes, FranceFlag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 2–1Friendly
2624 June 1998 Bordeaux, FranceFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 2–2 1998 FIFA World Cup
2731 May 2000 Győr, HungaryFlag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2–2Friendly
285 October 2000 Zarqa, JordanFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2–0Friendly
2910 February 2001 Dammam, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3012 February 2001Dammam, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 5–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
31
32
3315 February 2001Dammam, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia 6–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3410 July 2001SingaporeFlag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 3–0Friendly
35
3615 September 2001 Bangkok, ThailandFlag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 3–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3721 September 2001 Manama, BahrainFlag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain 4–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3821 October 2001Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 4–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3916 January 2002Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 1–1 15th Arabian Gulf Cup
4020 January 2002Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain 3–1 15th Arabian Gulf Cup
4114 May 2002Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 3–2Friendly
429 February 2005 Tashkent, UzbekistanFlag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 1–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
438 June 2005Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 3–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
44
4515 March 2006Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFlag of Iraq (2004-2008).svg  Iraq 2–2Friendly
4614 June 2006 Munich, GermanyFlag of Tunisia.svg  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.
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