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Sami Al-Jaber

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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
Arabian Gulf Cup
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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International

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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 12th Arabian Gulf Cup
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 13th Arabian Gulf Cup
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 15th Arabian Gulf Cup
40 20 January 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Bahrain 3–1 15th Arabian Gulf Cup
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

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Al-Hilal

Saudi Arabia

Individual

See also

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References

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  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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