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Sami Al-Jaber (, born December 11, 1972) is a football (soccer) striker from Saudi Arabia.
Known by fans as Super-Sami, he was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1972.
Al-Jaber in the National team
He received his first cap for the national football team in 1992 and as of June 13 2006 he has played 161 international matches and scored 44 goals.
Following a rapid rise to prominence in his club career at Al-Hilal, he was called up for the full national side in January 1990 and featured highly in their World Cup appearances.
Following injuries and the disastrous World Cup 2002 placing of the team, Al Jaber decided to retire from international football but he was tempted back by Saudi Arabia’s Argentine coach Gabriel Calderon in early 2005 for their World Cup 2006 campaign.
Aged 33 years as-of June 2006, Al Jaber is still active with the Sons of Deserts, having spent half of his life steering the team to four consecutive FIFA World Cup finals.
Like striking legend Saeed Owairan, Al Jaber is regarded as one of the best strikers Saudi Arabia has produced.
World Cup career
He is a veteran of the 1994 World Cup, the 1998 World Cup, the 2002 World Cup and the 2006 World Cup.
Al Jaber made his first real mark as a national player during Saudi Arabia's qualifying campaign for the USA 94, finding the net three times in their crucial 4-3 victory over Iran to book their debut World Cup appearance. The team made history by reaching the second round and Al Jaber made his contribution by scoring a crucial goal from the penalty spot in the opening round 2-1 win over Morocco.
Al Jaber also played in Saudi Arabia’s three matches at France 98 and his goal in the 2-2 draw with South Africa made him the first Asian player to score in two consecutive FIFA World Cup finals.
He was struggling with injuries by the time of Saudi Arabia’s disastrous campaign in Korea/Japan 2002, where they exited after three group defeats, including an 8-0 rout at the hands of Germany.
He retired but returned to the national team for the Germany 2006 campaign. He scored in the 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup qualifying round and got another two in the return fixture as Saudi Arabia booked an early spot in the finals.
He made his first 2006 World Cup appearance coming on as a substitute after 80 minutes of Saudi Arabia's opening game of the tournament against Tunisia. The game was tied 1-1, but only 90 seconds after entering the game, he scored for Saudi Arabia. However Tunisia snatched a late equaliser and the match finished 2-2.
By scoring this goal he became the first Asian footballer ever to score in 3 different World Cups, as well as the fifth player ever to score in World Cups 12 years apart, joining Uwe Seeler, Pelé, Maradona, Michael Laudrup. Henrik Larsson, who scored a goal in the same tournament six days later, joined this list as the sixth player.
Club career
At the age of 15, Al Jaber was already being pursued by many of the country’s top clubs and he joined Al-Hilal in 1988.
In his second season he finished top scorer for the club's youth championship-winning team.
Al Jaber was to break further ground on the club front in August 2000 when he spent five months on loan with Wolverhampton Wanderers to become the first Saudi player to feature in English football.
1972 births | Living people | Saudi Arabian footballers | Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players | FIFA World Cup 1994 players | FIFA World Cup 1998 players | FIFA World Cup 2002 players | FIFA World Cup 2006 players | FIFA World Cup goalscorers
سامي الجابر | Sami Al-Jaber | Sami Al Jaber | Sami al-Jaber | Sami Al-Jaber | סמי אל ג'אבר | Sami Al-Jaber | Sami Al-Jaber | Сами Ал-Џабер | Sami al-Jaber
"Sami Al-Jaber"