Sami Al-Jaber
Sami Al-Jaber in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber | ||
| Date of birth | 11 December 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1988 | Al-Hilal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–2007 | Al-Hilal | 268 | (101) |
| 2000 | → Wolverhampton (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 272 | (101) | |
| National team | |||
| 1992–2006 | Saudi Arabia | 156 | (46) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2011–2012 | Al-Hilal (assistant) | ||
| 2012–2013 | AJ Auxerre (assistant) | ||
| 2013–2014 | Al-Hilal | ||
| 2015 | Al-Wahda | ||
| 2016– | Al-Shabab | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber (Arabic: سامي الجابر; born 11 December 1972) is a retired football striker from Saudi Arabia. He spent the majority of his career from 1988 to 2008 with Al-Hilal. He is currently managing Al-Shabab in Saudi Professional League.
He is his country's second highest international goalscorer with 46 goals in 156 internationals from 1992 to 2006. Al-Jaber 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 squads which won the AFC Asian Cup in 1996. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Saudi players ever.
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 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.
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. 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. 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 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.
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