Sami Abdullah Mohammed Al-Jaber (; 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 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, where he made just five appearances in five months. 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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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-JaberNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 16 September 1992 Latakia, Syria 2–0 1992 Arab Nations Cup Group Stages2 18 April 1993 Singapore 3–1 Friendly3 24 April 1993 Singapore 1–0 Friendly4 1 May 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 6–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier5 17 September 1993 Khobar, Saudi Arabia 4–0 Friendly6 28 October 1993 Doha, Qatar 4–3 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier7 30 March 1994 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2–2 Friendly8 27 April 1994 Athinai, Greece 5–1 Friendly match9 25 June 1994 East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup10 19 October 1994 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 2–1 Friendly11 6 November 1994 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 1–1 12th Arabian Gulf Cup12 10 December 1994 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2–1 Friendly13 8 October 1995 Washington DC, United States 4–3 Friendly14 28 October 1995 Matsuyama, Japan 2–1 Friendly15 19 October 1996 Muscat, Oman 2–2 13th Arabian Gulf Cup16 5 December 1996 Dubai, United Arab Emirates 6–0 1996 AFC Asian Cup Group Stage17 16 December 1996 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 4–3 1996 AFC Asian Cup Quarter-finals18 31 March 1997 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 6–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification19 20 21 25 September 1997 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 5–1 Friendly22 23 9 May 1998 Cannes, France 2–1 Friendly24 12 May 1998 Nice, France 1–1 Friendly25 17 May 1998 Cannes, France 2–1 Friendly26 24 June 1998 Bordeaux, France 2–2 1998 FIFA World Cup27 31 May 2000 Győr, Hungary 2–2 Friendly28 5 October 2000 Zarqa, Jordan 2–0 Friendly29 10 February 2001 Dammam, Saudi Arabia 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification30 12 February 2001 Dammam, Saudi Arabia 5–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification31 32 33 15 February 2001 Dammam, Saudi Arabia 6–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification34 10 July 2001 Singapore 3–0 Friendly35 36 15 September 2001 Bangkok, Thailand 3–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification37 21 September 2001 Manama, Bahrain 4–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification38 21 October 2001 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 4–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification39 16 January 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1–1 15th Arabian Gulf Cup40 20 January 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 3–1 15th Arabian Gulf Cup41 14 May 2002 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 3–2 Friendly42 9 February 2005 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 1–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification43 8 June 2005 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 3–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification44 45 15 March 2006 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2–2 Friendly46 14 June 2006 Munich, Germany 2–2 2006 FIFA World Cup

Honours Al-Hilal Saudi Premier League: 1989–90, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2004–05 Crown Prince Cup: 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004–05, 2005–06 Saudi Federation Cup: 1990, 1993, 1996, 2000 Saudi Founder's Cup: 2000 AFC Champions League: 2000 Asian Cup Winners Cup: 1996–97, 2001–02 Asian Super Cup: 1997 Arab Champions League: 1994, 1995 Arab Super Cup: 2001 GCC Club Cup: 1998 Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup: 2001

Saudi Arabia AFC Asian Cup: 1996; runner-up: 2000 FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up: 1992 Arabian Gulf Cup: 1994, 2002

Individual AFC Player of the Month: February 1998 AFC Goal of the Month: April 1998 Saudi Premier League top scorer: 1989–90 (16), 1992–93 (19) Arab Champions League top scorer: 1994 (7), 2004–05 (9) Arab Club Champions Cup Best Player: 1994 Gulf Club Champions Cup top scorer: 1998 Arab Club Champions Cup All-time top scorer Arab Super Cup top scorer: 2001 AFC Fans' All-time XI at the FIFA World Cup: 2020

See also List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps

References

External links sami al jaber injured Sami Al-Jaber at AlHilal.com

Official Website