 Majed withSaudi Arabia in 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Majed Ahmed Abdullah Al-Mohammed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1959-01-11)11 January 1959 (age 66) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1977 | Al-Nassr | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977–1998 | Al-Nassr | 194 | (189) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 194 | (189) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1978 | Saudi Arabia U17 | 4 | (7) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1994 | Saudi Arabia | 117 | (72) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Majed Ahmed Abdullah (Arabic:مَاجِد أَحْمَد عَبْد الله; born 11 January 1959) is a Saudi Arabian former professionalfootballer who played as astriker forAl-Nassr and theSaudi Arabia national team. He is theall-time leading goal scorer for Saudi Arabia with 72 goals in 117 games. At the club level, he is the record goal scorer for Al-Nassr and the all-time top scorer of theSaudi Pro League.[1][2][3] He was often referred to by his nickname "The ArabianPelé".[4]
Majed Abdullah is regarded as one of the greatestWestern Asian strikers of all time. He was nominated forIFFHS Asia's Player of the Century, finishing third place.[5] He spent his entire club career at Al-Nassr, and scored 189 league goals in a twenty-one-year career. During this time, Al-Nassr established themselves as one of the dominant forces in Saudi and Asian football. With Abdullah leading the attack, Al-Nassr won five League titles and fourKing Cup titles as well as the1997–98 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. Abdullah also finished as the Saudi League top scorer six times throughout his career. Majed Abdullah retired from football in 1998, after Al-Nassr's Asian Cup Winners' Cup Final victory over Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
His success was not limited to the domestic stage. In 1984 Saudi Arabia qualified for their first-ever global international tournament at theOlympic Games in Los Angeles. Abdullah scored their only goal as Saudi Arabia lost all three group games. International success did come in 1984, however, in theAsian Cup in Singapore. Saudi Arabia beat China 2–0 in the final to take the title for the first time, with Abdullah scoring the second goal. Four years later in1988, he would score twice in the tournament in Qatar as the Saudi team retained the title by beating South Korea on penalties.[6]
Majed was born[7] in the Al-Baghdadia District inJeddah. Majed is the second son of Ahmed Abdullah. Living close to a sports club alongside being the son of a football manager piqued Majed's interest in football. In the mid-1960s, Abdullah and his family moved toRiyadh where his father got a job as the manager ofAl-Nassr's youth team. Abdullah enrolled in Al-Jazaeria Elementary School and he passionately watched the older kids play football. A couple of years later, Majed joined the school football team as well as the neighborhood team. He used to play as agoalkeeper. One day the team's striker was absent and Majed had to replace him. This position change proved to be successful as Majed guided his team to a 3–1 victory. Abdullah's family moved toHotat Khaled District and the young Abdullah joined Al-Motawasta Al-Thania high school. Majed and his neighbors formed a team they called "Al-Ittifaq". They tried to participate in a tournament but their request was rejected due to their young age. They did not give up and challenged one of Riyadh's best neighborhood teams for a place in that tournament. Al-Ittifaq won the match 3–1 with Abdullah scoring twice. Al-Ittifaq participated in the tournament and they went on to win the championship.[8][9][10]
Mohammed Al-Hudayan, a teammate at Al-Ittifaq, recommended Abdullah toAl-Nassr presidentPrince Abdulrahman Bin Saud, as did Al-Ittifaq's coach Nasseb Awad toKhaled Al-Turki and Al-Nassr coachLjubiša Broćić.[11] Broćić went to see Abdullah unannounced at Al-Ittifaq's training field in Al-Batha and requested that the club sign him. Abdullah officially joined Al-Nassr on 10 November 1975.[12]
Abdullah spent 2 years playing for the youth teams before being promoted to the senior team. He made his senior debut in a friendly againstMoroccan sideAl-Fath in January 1977. He made his competitive debut on 20 January 1977 by coming off the bench in the league match againstAl-Shabab replacing Ibrahim Al-Hamoud.[13] Abdullah once again came off the bench in the 2–1 defeat toAl-Qadsiah on 14 March 1977 to make his second appearance for Al-Nassr.[14] On 18 March, Abdullah made his first start as well as score his first goal for Al-Nassr, when he headed inNasser Al-Johar's cross, in the league match againstAl-Wehda.[15] Following an injury to first-choice strikerMohammad Al-Abdeli, Abdullah was given a chance to prove himself. He repaid that trust by scoring three goals in the final three rounds of the league against Al-Shabab,Al-Ahli and derby rivalsAl-Hilal.[16] On 5 May 1977, Abdullah scored twice in the 4–0 againstHajer in the1977 King Cup.[17] He then scored twice againstAl-Nahda in the Round of 16 and scored the opener in the 2–1 win against Al-Qadsiah in the quarter-finals.[18] Al-Nassr were eventually eliminated in the semi-finals by Al-Hilal.[19] He ended his first season at Al-Nassr scoring nine goals in ten appearances. Abdullah started his second season with Al-Nassr poorly, failing to score in his first three matches. On 4 November 1977, Abdullah scored a brace against Al-Nahda to score his first goals of the 1977–78 season.[20] He then scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Al-Qadsiah on 10 November.[21] Abdullah scored his fourth goal of the season in a 1–0 win againstAl-Ittihad.[22] On 29 December, Abdullah was injured and forced to leave the pitch in the derby against Al-Hilal.[23] He made his return on 12 January 1978 and scored in the 2–1 win againstAl-Ettifaq.[24] On 17 February, Abdullah scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win against Al-Nahda, his sixth of the season.[25] On 2 March, Abdullah scored his first hattrick for Al-Nassr in the 4–0 win againstOhod.[26] On 10 March, he scored his second hattrick in the 3–1 away win against Al-Ittihad.[27] On 30 March, Abdullah scored twice againstAl-Shate'e in the Round of 32 of the1978 King Cup.[28] Al-Nassr were eliminated by eventual champions Al-Ahli in the Round of 16. Majed ended the 1977–78 season scoring 14 goals in 19 appearances.
Majed Abdullah finished as the Saudi League top scorer 6 times in his career. He also won the League 4 times as well as the King Cup 4 times. Majed is the all-time top scorer of the Saudi League with 189 goals and is alsoAl-Nassr's all-time top scorer with 260 goals. Majed Abdullah announced his retirement on 12 April 1998 following Al-Nassr's win in the 1998 Asian Cup Winner's Cup in front of 70,000 fans in Riyadh.[29]
Majed made his senior team debut in 1978 in an unofficial friendly against Portuguese giantsBenfica where he scored 2 goals. His official debut was againstChina on 10 December 1978. Majed played forSaudi Arabia in the1979 Arabian Gulf Cup, scoring 7 goals in 6 matches, and notably scoring five againstQatar in a 7–0 win.[30] He continued to play in theArabian Gulf Cup, participating in the1982,1984 and1986 tournaments.
Majed represented his country at the1984 AFC Asian Cup, first scoring a 90th-minute equalizer againstSouth Korea in the group stage, then scoring again in thefinal againstChina to helpSaudi Arabia secure their firstAsian Cup title.[31] He played in the next tournament in1988, scoring a goal againstIran in the semi-finals and then converting his kick in thepenalty shoot-out of thefinal against South Korea as his side retained their title.[32] Majed also represented Saudi Arabia in the1984 Summer Olympics, scoring a goal againstBrazil.
He helped the country to a silver medal at the1986 Asian Games, as well as another silver medal at the1992 Arab Cup. Majed marked his last appearances for Saudi Arabia at the1994 FIFA World Cup, then retired from international football shortly afterwards.[33]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Al-Nassr | 1976–77[36] | SPL | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | — | — | — | 10 | 9 | |||
| 1977–78[37] | 18 | 11 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | 20 | 13 | |||||
| 1978–79[38] | 17 | 18 | 3 | 6 | — | — | — | 20 | 24 | |||||
| 1979–80[39] | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 17 | |||||
| 1980–81[40] | 15 | 21 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | 19 | 25 | |||||
| 1981–82[41] | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 10 | 10 | |||||
| 1982–83[42] | 15 | 14 | 3 | 3 | — | — | 4[a] | 3 | 22 | 20 | ||||
| 1983–84[43] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0[b] | 0 | |||||
| 1984–85[43] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 1985–86[44] | 16 | 15 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 18 | 16 | |||||
| 1986–87 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 5 | — | — | — | 15 | 20 | |||||
| 1987–88 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 9 | 7 | |||||
| 1988–89 | 15 | 19 | 4 | 5 | — | — | — | 19 | 24 | |||||
| 1989–90 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 5 | — | — | — | 15 | 18 | |||||
| 1990–91 | 11 | 10 | — | 4 | 5 | — | 4[a] | 5 | 19 | 20 | ||||
| 1991–92 | 2 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 1992–93 | 5 | 4 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 4 | |||||
| 1993–94 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0[b] | 0 | |||||
| 1994–95 | 8 | 8 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | 9 | 9 | |||||
| 1995–96 | 3 | 0 | — | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4[a] | 5 | 15 | 7 | |||
| 1996–97 | 4 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5[c] | 7 | 13 | 10 | |||
| 1997–98 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Career total | 194 | 189 | 33 | 39 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 266 | 259[d] | ||
| Saudi Arabia | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 3 | 0 |
| 1979 | 6 | 7 |
| 1980 | 7 | 9 |
| 1981 | 11 | 4 |
| 1982 | 10 | 3 |
| 1983 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984 | 16 | 15 |
| 1985 | 7 | 3 |
| 1986 | 10 | 8 |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | 23 | 11 |
| 1989 | 7 | 2 |
| 1990 | 3 | 2 |
| 1991 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | 2 | 1 |
| 1993 | 9 | 6 |
| 1994 | 3 | 1 |
| Total | 117 | 72 |
Al-Nassr
Saudi Arabia
Individual
On 20 May 2008, 10 years after Abdullah's last match, a testimonial match was held between Al-Nassr andReal Madrid, who were just crowned with their 31stLa Liga title. The match was held at Al-Nassr's home ground, theKing Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.[55] Al-Nassr won the match 4–1 with 70,000 fans in attendance. The match saw players from other clubs such asMohamed Al-Deayea,Malek Mouath andNashat Akram represent Al-Nassr.Arjen Robben broke the deadlock at the 50th before Mouath and Akram scored in quick succession.Saud Kariri then added a third in the 61st before Mouath scored the fourth goal in the first minute of stoppage time.[56]
         Al-Nassr |     Real Madrid |
Saudi Arabia Squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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