Sami Al-Jaber

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 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-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 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.

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 which 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 US, 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.

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.

He was named as assistant coach of Al-Hilal in 2009, one year after 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 AJ Auxerre.

On 27 May 2013, Sami Al-Jaber was named as the manager of Al-Hilal, replaced former coach Zlatko Dalić. He became the first Saudi coach to manage Al-Hilal after 14 years after 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 assignment as the technical manager of their football team.

Managerial statistics

As of 15 September 2017

Club

International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 September 1992	Latakia, Syria	Kuwait	2–0	Won	1992 Arab Nations Cup Group Stages
2	18 April 1993	Singapore	New Zealand	3–1	Won	Friendly
3	24 April 1993	Singapore	New Zealand	1–0	Won	Friendly
4	1 May 1993	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Macau	6–0	Won	1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier
5	17 September 1993	Khobar, Saudi Arabia	Thailand	4–0	Won	Friendly
6	28 October 1993	Doha, Qatar	Iran	4–3	Won	1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier
7	30 March 1994	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Chile	2–2	Draw	Friendly
8	27 April 1994	Athinai, Greece	Greece	5–1	Lost	Friendly match
9	25 June 1994	East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States	Morocco	2–1	Won	1994 FIFA World Cup
10	19 October 1994	Dhahran, Saudi Arabia	United States	2–1	Won	Friendly
11	6 November 1994	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	1–1	Draw	1994 Gulf Cup of Nations
12	10 December 1994	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Poland	2–1	Lost	Friendly
13	8 October 1995	Washington DC, United States	United States	4–3	Lost	Friendly
14	28 October 1995	Matsuyama, Japan	Japan	2–1	Lost	Friendly
15	19 October 1996	Muscat, Oman	Qatar	2–2	Draw	1996 Gulf Cup of Nations
16	5 December 1996	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Thailand	6–0	Won	1996 AFC Asian Cup Group Stage
17	16 December 1996	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	China PR	4–3	Won	1996 AFC Asian Cup Quarter-finals
18	31 March 1997	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Chinese Taipei	6–0	Won	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
19	31 March 1997	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Chinese Taipei	6–0	Won	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
20	31 March 1997	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Chinese Taipei	6–0	Won	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
21	25 September 1997	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Mali	5–1	Won	Friendly
22	25 September 1997	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Mali	5–1	Won	Friendly
23	9 May 1998	Cannes, France	Trinidad and Tobago	2–1	Won	Friendly
24	12 May 1998	Nice, France	Iceland	1–1	Draw	Friendly
25	17 May 1998	Cannes, France	Namibia	2–1	Won	Friendly
26	24 June 1998	Bordeaux, France	South Africa	2–2	Draw	1998 FIFA World Cup
27	31 May 2000	Győr, Hungary	Hungary	2–2	Draw	Friendly
28	5 October 2000	Zarqa, Jordan	China PR	2–0	Won	Friendly
29	10 February 2001	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Bangladesh	3–0	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
30	12 February 2001	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Vietnam	5–0	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
31	12 February 2001	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Vietnam	5–0	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
32	12 February 2001	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Vietnam	5–0	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
33	15 February 2001	Dammam, Saudi Arabia	Mongolia	6–0	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
34	10 July 2001	Singapore	Singapore	3–0	Won	Friendly
35	10 July 2001	Singapore	Singapore	3–0	Won	Friendly
36	15 September 2001	Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	3–1	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
37	21 September 2001	Manama, Bahrain	Bahrain	4–0	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
38	21 October 2001	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Thailand	4–1	Won	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
39	16 January 2002	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Kuwait	1–1	Draw	2002 Gulf Cup of Nations
40	20 January 2002	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Bahrain	3–1	Won	2002 Gulf Cup of Nations
41	14 May 2002	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Senegal	3–2	Won	Friendly
42	9 February 2005	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	1–1	Draw	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
43	8 June 2005	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Uzbekistan	3–0	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
44	8 June 2005	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Uzbekistan	3–0	Won	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
45	15 March 2006	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Iraq	2–2	Draw	Friendly
46	14 June 2006	Munich, Germany	Tunisia	2–2	Draw	2006 FIFA World Cup

In addition to his native language Arabic, Sami speaks English, French and Portuguese. He is married and has a son Abduallah who is also linked with football and a daughter Rema Sami has good relationships with some famous football players.

Player

Al-Hilal

• AFC Champions League: 2000
• Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1997, 2002
• Asian Super Cup: 1997
• Saudi Premier League: 1989–90, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2004–05
• Crown Prince Cup: 1994–95, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06
• Saudi Federation Cup: 1990, 1993, 1996, 2000
• Saudi Founder's Cup: 2000
• Arab Club Champions Cup: 1994, 1995
• Arab Super Cup: 2001
• Gulf Club Champions Cup: 1998
• Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup: 2001

Saudi Arabia

• AFC Asian Cup: 1996
• Gulf Cup of Nations: 1994, 2002

Manager

Al-Hilal

• Saudi Premier League: 2013–14 (Runner-up)
• Crown Prince Cup: 2013–14 (Runner-up)

Individual

• Arabian Footballer of the Year: 2001
• Saudi Premier League Top Goal Scorer (2)
• The Only Arabic Player To Be In 4 World Cup Competitions 1994 1998 2002 2006
• The Only Arabic Player To Score 3 Goals In World Cup History
• Saudi National Team Top Scorer In The World Cup Competitions (3) And Qualifications (16)
• Golden Boot Arabic Top Scorer In 1990
• Al Hilal FC All Time Top Scorer (177)