Majed Abdullah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Majed Abdullah (Arabic: ماجد عبد الله) (born November 1, 1959 in Jeddah) is a former Saudi Arabian football (soccer) striker, the all-time goals leader for the Saudi national team. He scored 67 goals for the national team in class "A" matches and 142 goals in non-class "A" matches. He was nicknamed Arabian Pelé.
Contents |
[edit] Early Years
Majed was born in Jeddah in 1959 as Majed Ahmad Abdullah Mohamed. He lived in Jeddah until he was six when his father, a football coach, was given a job in Riyadh by Al-Nasr to coach the youth team there.
Majed grew to love the sport when he accompanied his father to the training sessions and was playing football regularly at school and on neighborhood teams. Ironically, due to his height and long limbs, he mainly played as a goalkeeper and not a striker. When he was 10 years old, a striker for his neighborhood team was missing and Majed was asked to fill in his position. Majed scored 2 goals in the game as his team won 3-1 and he would continue to play in that position from then on, becoming a local celebrity.
[edit] Early career
[edit] With Al-Nasr
Many clubs were clamoring to sign the young talented striker but due to his father's close relationship with Al-Nasr and Majed's love for the team, he ended up joining Al-Nasr's Youth team under the supervision of Yugoslavian coach Brocic.
At first, this was not as fun as Majed had hoped and he was regularly skipping training sessions to join his friends at school or neighborhood teams. Eventually, he managed to realize the importance of training and regularly attended.
Majed's first match was a friendly match against a second division English side during a 1976 training camp in England. He managed to score a goal in the match which ended 4-0. However, he was injured in the match and had to miss the rest of the camp.
His first match in Saudi Arabia was another friendly, this time against Morrocan Al-Fat'h. He entered the game as a substitute in the last 20 minutes and due to his inexperience, failed to make an impact.
A week later, he also played in the last 20 minutes in his first official game in the premier league against neighbors Al-Shabab. Although he didn't score, he made a good impression on the fans and on his coach. In his third game against Al Wahda (KSA), he managed to score the first of 533 career goals. He would play two more games before the season ended as his team finished second and the young star was already famous.
[edit] With the National Team
Despite only appearing in 5 games, Majed was accepted to the Saudi Arabian Youth National team which was preparing for a friendly tournament in Iran. Although Saudi Arabia finished second, Majed proved his skills as he claimed the top goalscorer award with 7 goals.
He caught the interest of the Saudi Arabian Senior team coaches, who at only 18 years of age and 5 league matches to his name joined the national team.
He proved his talent in his first match, a friendly against Portuguese giants Benfica when he scored two goals, the first which was an amazing dash from the Saudi half dribbling past two defenders before feinting the goalkeeper and putting it away in the back of the net.
With that performance, Majed managed to secure a spot on the National team from 1977 all the way to World Cup 1994.
[edit] Professional Career
[edit] With Al-Nasr
Majed's club finished their first ever season in a respectable second place. The second season also saw them finish second (although two more teams were added to the league) with Majed second in the goalscorers list (he missed most of the season due to injury). However, in the third season, he topped the scorers list for the first time with 13 goals but the club finished yet again in second place. Brocic, the coach who had trained Majed from an early age was sacked by the club. Majed later remarked that this it was sad to see his mentor leave the club. Brazilian coach Formiga was brought in and he successfully led the team to their first championship in 1980 as they dominated the league from start to finish and Majed topped the scoring charts for the second consecutive time. 1981 would be even better for Majed and Al-Nasr as they became the first team to achieve the league title for the second consecutive time and then became the first team to achieve the double when they won the King's cup. Majed finished yet again on the top of the scoring charts with 21 goals in 16 matches (he missed the last two matches due to injury).
for the next four years, Al-Nasr couldn't manage to win anything, Majed was either pre-occupied with the national team or injured. However, in the period between 1986 and 1990, Al-Nasr came back in force and won the league one more time and achieved the King's cup 3 more times, Majed also topped the scoring charts 3 more times during this period bringing his tally of golden boots up to 6. He managed all this even with constant injuries and national team commitments.
The period from 1991-1993 saw Majed sidelined due to injury, although Al-Nasr won the league title in 1994, Majed was pre-occupied with the national team attempting to qualify for the World Cup.
In his final four years with Al-Nasr, Majed led Al-Nasr to four different titles; The premier league in 1995, two consecutive gulf club championships in 1996-97 and Al-Nasr's crowning achievement, The Asian Cup Winner's Cup in 1998. His final goal came in the semi-finals and he would retire from football after the tournament was over.
[edit] With the National Team
When Majed first joined the Saudi Arabian national team, it was unpopular with the Saudi public. The team's repeated poor performances caused many fans to simply watch club derbies and matches instead.
But with the establishment of the Saudi Premier League in 1976, the level of football in Saudi Arabia and the national team increased causing more fans to pay attention to international matches.
Majed's first big international breakthrough was during 5th GCC cup when he scored 7 goals in 5 matches, including a still standing national record of 5 goals in a single match(which he would repeat again) against Qatar. However, despite better performances for the team, results were not improving and after a failed attempt to qualify for the 1982 World Cup, the team's Brazilian coach ,Menilli was replaced with fellow countrymen Mario Zagallo. Zagallo himself would be sacked after a 4-0 loss to Iraq in 7th GCC cup in 1984 and was replaced by caretaker manager Al-Zayani until a suitable replacement could be found. Al-Zayani immediately improved the team. In Saudi Arabia's final 3 matches they snagged two wins and a tie and jumped from sixth to third place.
A few weeks later, the team arrived for the 1984 Olympics qualifying round but Majed was injured and the temporary Al-Zayani was still in charge. The prognosis was bleak but the team played well led by 17 year-old wonder and Majed's Al-Nasr team mate Mohaisen Al-Jam'an, Majed himself recovered quickly to lead his team to their first crowing achievement, Qaulification to the 1984 Los Angleses Olympics after a memorable 5-4 victory over South Korea. Although, during the Olympics, their inexperience showed and they lost all there matches. Majed managed to score a goal in a 3-1 defeat to Brazil.
Following the Olympics, Saudi Arabian football entered its golden age when it won its first Asian Cup in 1984 after defeating all of the big names in Asian football. During the final 2-0 victory over China, Majed scored what some believe to be his most beautiful goal when he dribbled past two defenders and fooled the goal keeper before gently putting it away.
The Saudis also won the 1988 Asian cup under the leadership of the legendary Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. This time, the Saudis were not the dark horse of the tournament but the defending champion as were not under-estimated. They still managed to beat South Korea in the final after penalty shoot-outs.
Majed's greatest success came when the team qualified to their first World Cup in 1994. Although Majed was injured for most of the qualify he came back to net three goals in the final three matches to send Saudi Arabia to USA 1994. At the world cup, Majed was 35 years old and was the team captain but did not manage to score goals as he was kept on the bench due to injury for most of the tournament. He finally retired from international football after the tournament.
[edit] Playing Style
Majed was always a fantastic dribbler with both feet and a strong kicker. However, after he joined Al-Nasr he discovered that his height and jumping power gave him an advantage in headers that coupled with his amazing speed made it difficult for defenders to stop him.
Majed was also known for duping defenders and goalkeepers alike with feints and dribbling skills which earned the nickname "executioner of Goalkeepers".
He was also a creator of goals and a natural penalty-taker.
[edit] Current Life
Majed, due to his popularity, has had a steady job as a pundit on Saudi Channel 3 but he has recently moved to a more lucrative job offer at the Arab Radio and Television Network (aka ART).
There have been many rumors of an overdue testimonial match over the years. The most recent one to take form involves famous Spanish club FC Barcelona.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Majed9 website A Fan's tribute to Majed Abdullah (Arabic/English)
- Saudi Arabia FA official site
- Playerhistory.com Majed Abdullahs Profile
 |
Saudi Arabia squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup | |
|---|---|---|
|
1 Al‑Deayea | 2 Al‑Dosari | 3 Al‑Khilaiwi | 4 Zubromawi | 5 Madani | 6 Amin | 7 Al‑Ghesheyan | 8 Al‑Bishi | 9 Abdullah | 10 Al‑Owairan | 11 Al‑Mehallel | 12 Al‑Jaber | 13 Al‑Jawad | 14 Al‑Muwallid | 15 Al‑Dawod | 16 Jebreen | 17 Al‑Taifi | 18 Al‑Anazi | 19 Saleh | 20 Idris | 21 Al‑Sadiq | 22 Al‑Helwah | Coach: Solari |
||
