Sami_Al-Jaber

Sami Al-Jaber

Sami Al-Jaber

Saudi Arabian footballer (born 1972)

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.

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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.
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Honours

Al-Hilal

Saudi Arabia

Individual

See also

References

  1. [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. [2]
    Dixon, Jamie. "AL-JABER COMPLETES LOAN SPELL". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  3. [3]
    Evans, Nic. "AL-JABER GIVEN UAE LOAN". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  4. [4]
    "Report: Al Hilal 3 United 2". Manchester United FC. 21 January 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  5. [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. [6]
    Alosaimi, Najah (21 January 2008). "'Sam 6' Regarded as Kingdom's Best". Arab News. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  7. [7]
    Church, Michael (9 June 2002). "Why you don't see Saudi players in Europe". The Guardian.
  8. [8]
    Roberto Mamrud & Naim Albakr. "Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  9. [9]
    "Super Sami strikes gold". Asian Football Confederation. 14 May 1998. Archived from the original on 14 May 1998.
  10. [10]
    "Sami does it again". Asian Football Confederation. 19 February 1999. Archived from the original on 19 February 1999.
  11. [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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