Sami Al-Jaber

Football player infobox
playername = Sami Al-Jaber


fullname = Sami Abdullah Al Jaber
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1972|12|11
cityofbirth = Riyadh
countryofbirth = Saudi Arabia
height = height|m=1.77
position = Striker (retired)
youthyears = 1986–1988
youthclubs = Al-Hilal
years = 1988–2008
2000–2001
clubs = Al-Hilal
→ Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)
caps(goals) = 00? 0(?)
004 0(0)
nationalyears = 1992–2006
nationalteam = Saudi Arabia
nationalcaps(goals) = 163 (44)

Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber ( _ar. سامي الجابر), born 11 December, 1972 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) is a retired football striker from Saudi Arabia who played the majority of his career with Al-Hilal. He is his country's record international goalscorer and has appeared in four different World Cup Finals, scoring in three.

Club career

Al-Hilal

Al-Jaber is often cited as Al-Hilal's most famous player, after spending nearly 20 years with the club. He joined the club aged 15 and during two decades as a senior player, helped them to win 6 league titles, 6 Crown Prince Cups and 2 Asian Champions League titles among other honours. He was also top goalscorer in the Saudi Premier League twice (in 1989-90 and 1992-93).

On 21 January 2008, Al-Hilal held a testimonial for Al-Jaber against English Premier League club Manchester United. Al Jaber scored a penalty en route to a 3–2 victory over the visitors in his last game for the club. [cite web| url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=525644| title=Report: Al Hilal 3 United 2| date=21 January, 2008]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 22 August 2000, English First Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers agreed terms to sign Al-Jaber after impressing Wolves' boss Colin Lee in a trial. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wolverhampton_wanderers/891482.stm| title=Wolves agree Al-Jaber fee| publisher= BBC Sport| date=22 August 2000] The deal consisted of an initial five-month loan period with the option to buy for a reported £1.2 million at its conclusion and made him the first Saudi player to play in England. [cite web| url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/2000/0822/soccer8.html| title=Saudi striker Sami Al Jaber agrees terms with Wolves| date=22 August 2000]

However, the move was fraught with complications and setbacks. It took almost a month for his international clearance to arrive before he could make his Wolves debut on 16 September 2000 coming on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw at fc|Wimbledon. He did the same in the following two league games (and played a full League Cup match) before having to leave to appear in the Asian Cup with his country. However, he returned from international duty carrying a groin injury that left him on the sidelines for a further month and drew a furious reaction from Wolves after learning of the injections he had been given while away to enable him to complete the tournament. [cite web| url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-66624698.html| title=Wolves in sue threat over Sami; Anger at Saudi FA| publisher= Birmingham Evening Mail| date=4 November 2000]

Al-Jaber regained his fitness but managed only one further substitute appearance in the first team, annoying his Saudi club. He returned home on compassionate leave after his father became ill over the Christmas period, [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wolverhampton_wanderers/1083817.stm| title = Saudi given compassionate leave |publisher= BBC Sport| date=22 December 2000] and upon returning to Molineux discovered Colin Lee had been sacked as manager and replaced by Dave Jones. Jones asked for his trial to be extended to allow him chance to personally evaluate the player but when his parent club Al-Hilai refused, he returned home after just eight months and five (goalless) appearances in England. [cite web| url=http://www.2006fifaworldcup.info/teams/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabias-sami-al-jaber-about-the-pleasure-of-playing-football/| title=Saudi Arabia’s Sami Al Jaber about the pleasure of playing football] Despite his failure to make an impression, he later said: "I learned everything at Wolves and was really happy to have had that time there." [cite web| url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/minbymin/0,,1788340,00.html| title=Saudi Arabia 0-4 Ukraine| publisher= The Guardian| date=19 June 2006]

International career

Al-Jaber is his country's record goalscorer, having scored 44 times over a 14-year international career. He competed in four FIFA World Cups - appearing in the 1994, 1998, 2002, and the 2006 World Cups. His record of 163 caps is second only to Mohamed Al-Deayea in his country's history.

He received his first cap for the Saudi national team on 11 September 1992 in a 1-1 draw with Syria in the Arab Nations Cup. He took until his 19th game to score his first international goal when he netted in a 6-0 rout of Macau on 1 May 1993 in a World Cup 1994 qualifier. Saudi Arabia subsequently qualified for the 1994 World Cup Finals, their first World Cup appearance. Al-Jaber appeared in two group games in the USA, scoring from the penalty spot against Morocco in a 2-1 win.

He was part of the squad that won the 1996 Asian Cup before reaching his second World Cup Finals in 1998. He played in all three games in which the Saudi side appeared in France, scoring a second World Cup goal when he netted in a 2-2 draw with South Africa. This made him the first Asian player to score in two consecutive World Cups.

After gaining a runners-up medal in the 2000 Asian Cup, he appeared in the 2002 World Cup but only played in one game, an 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. [cite web| url=http://www.arabnews.com/?page=8&section=0&article=105921&d=21&m=1&y=2008| title='Sam 6' Regarded as Kingdom's Best| date=21 January 2008]

Following this disappointment, he decided to retire from international football but was tempted back by Saudi Arabia’s Argentine coach Gabriel Calderon in early 2005 for their 2006 World Cup campaign. He scored three times in four qualifying games to help reach the finals. He appeared in all three games the Saudis played in the tournament in Germany and scored in their opening match against Tunisia to give them a 2-1 lead but the match ended 2-2. After failing to advance to the knockout stages, Al-Jaber announced his international retirement.

References

External links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/aljaber-intlg.html International record at RSSSF]