Introduction
Majed Abdullah is simply the greatest football player to ever come out of Saudi Arabia.
He was Born in 1958 at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and started his career in 1977 with "Al-Nassr" club in the Capital, Riyadh. From there he went on to become the best striker in the history of his team, his country and the Asian continent.
Majed's career spanned 22 years, which can be remembered as the golden period for his club and Saudi football.
He was part of the Saudi national team to win the Asian nations cup for the first time in 1984, and a second in 1988, qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 1984, and qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in 1994.
In addition he led his club, Al-Nassr, to 11 national, regional, and Asian titles.
On the personal level he was the leading scorer in the Premier league 6 times, a national record, plus various scoring titles in regional and Asian championships.
Still, the biggest and most important number in his life is goals, of which he scored 533 in local and international games (official and friendly).
Majed was able to amass such a high number because he had all the striker position ingredients. A fast runner, an astonishing dribbler, a master of headers from all angles, an almost perfect penalty shooter, and above all he was a stunner, no matter what the stage of the game it was, suddenly he would take over and change the course of a game in a second.
Majed's career could have been more colorful, but some factors prevented him from making more achievements.
At first there were the injuries, of which he had so many, that many times he missed an entire tournament or even an entire season.
He also played under an ineffective continental confederation, Asian Football Confederation, which didn't start organizing Asian clubs championships on a steady basis until 1986, and started awarding the Player of the month and Player of the year titles only in 1995. He could have easily won many of those, especially during the eighties.
In addition the Saudi Football Federation ban on local players from playing abroad didn't help at all, had he joined some advanced league, he could have improved even further.
Majed Abdullah was widely known in all of Asia, But he did not make the world headlines until he topped the century club as the player with the most international matches in the world with 147. Currently he is at #3 with 140 games; seven games were discounted after scrutiny.
Although he is known to have played more than 170 internationals, FIFA counts only what is defined as "Class-A matches", excluding many Olympic and Regional matches.
Majed made it to every Saudi Arabian national team selection from 1977 to 1994, until he retired from international play in July of 1994, following his participation in World Cup USA 94, as team captain.
Majed Abdullah retired from the football world on the 12th of April 1998, after playing his last game with Al-Nassr club in the final of the Asian cup winners cup against Samsung of South Korea, which Al-Nassr won 1-0.
Career Achievements
1.With the Saudi Arabian national team:
1984: Qualifying for Los Angeles Olympics
1984: 8th Asian Nations Cup
1988: 9th Asian Nations Cup
1994: Qualifying for the world cup (U.S.A.)
2. With Al-Nassr Club:
1980: Saudi Premier League
1981: Saudi Premier League
1981: King's Cup
1986: King's Cup
1987: King's Cup
1989: Saudi Premier League
1990: King's Cup
1995: Saudi Premier League
1996: Gulf clubs Championship
1997: Gulf clubs Championship
1998: Asian Cup winners' Cup
3. Personal Achievements:
Saudi Premier League Top Scorer 6 Times
(a national record):
1979 (13) Goals
1980 (17)
1981 (21)
1983 (14)
1986 (15)
1989 (18)
Asian Footballer of the year 3 times 1984,1985,1986 (selected by a panel of journalists)
Saudi Arabia's Player of the century selected by AFP news agency
Ranked 3rd In the voting for Asia's best player of the century, Awarded Feb 1999
Asian Player of the month twice june 1995, january 1997 (selected by Asian Football Confederation)
Arab countries top scorer "Golden Boot", Twice: 1981,1989
Asian Olympic qualifiers top scorer 1984,
(13 Goals.. 7 in first round, 6 in final round )
Gulf cup top scorer (with national team) 1982, (3 Goals)
Gulf clubs' Championship top scorer, twice:1991 (5 Goals), 1996 (5 Goals)
[IMG]Records:[/IMG]
Saudi league's top scorer 6 times.. a long standing national record, the next players in the list won it only twice
Of the 6 top scorer titles, he won 3 in a raw, no other player won it even two in a raw
Holds the national record for the most goals scored in the premier league, 189 Goals
Holds the national record for the longest affiliation with the premier league, 20 years (1977-1997)
Scored 5 Goals in one international match against Qatar on 3-4-1979, still unbroken national record
I
n 1981, he repeated that number in a friendly against Indonesia
In 1989, he repeated the same number again in a league match against Alrowdah
Scored 4 goals in just 15 minutes, against India, during a qualifier for the 1984 Olympics, another national record
Video Gallery
Vs. Argentina 1989
http://www.majed9.net/clips/argentina.mpg
Vs. China 1984(amazing
)
http://www.majed9.net/clips/china.mpg
Vs. England 1989
http://www.majed9.net/clips/england.mpg
Vs. Kuwait 1984
http://www.majed9.net/clips/q8.mpg
Vs. Scotland 1989
http://www.majed9.net/clips/scotland.mpg
Vs. New zealand 1984
http://www.majed9.net/clips/nz.mpg
Vs. Hilal 1987( unbelievable
)
http://www.majed9.net/clips/hil3.mpg
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