Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Saudi Arabia Greatest All-time team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   This entry of his was written in October 21, 2020, but mine was uploaded in a few weeks before his 2020.   Another entry of his was written in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.


World Cup 1994

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Saudi Arabia made an international breakout in 1984 when they won the Asian Cup.  Abdullah Majed was their star player.  From 1984 onward, the Saudis became a power in Asia.  They won two out of the next three Asian Cups.  In 1994, they qualified for their first World Cup Finals.  They beat Morocco in the first ever World Cup match between Arab countries. And then, Saeed Al-Owairan scored one of the best goals of the tournament against Belgium  as Saudi Arabia advanced to the second round.   Saudi Arabia would qualify for the next three World Cup Finals.  However, they were unable to match the results of USA 1994.

If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.
Asian Cup 1996

Team
GK: Mohamed Al Deayea 
Al-Deayea has split his professional career between the clubs Al-Ta'ee and Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.  He played in four FIFA World Cups for the Saudi Arabia national team and earned a total of 178 officially recognized caps, the record for a goalkeeper. He is widely recognised as the greatest goalkeeper from the Persian Gulf. Originally he started as a handball player, but was convinced by his club and his older brother Abdullah to become a footballer.

Mohamed Al Deayea
GK: Abdullah Al-Deayea
Abdullah Al-Deayea is the elder brother of Mohamed Al Deayea, another Saudi goalkeeper. He played 57 times for Saudi Arabia.  He was the starting keeper for Saudi Arabia's Asian Cup winning team in 1984 and 1988.  He was voted the best keeper in the 1984 Asian Cup.  His club career was spent with Al-Ta'e and Al-Hilal FC between 1979 and 1997.

Mabrouk Zayed started his career with Al-Riyadh SC, but made his name with Al-Ittihad where he played from 2000 to 2014.  He won the AFC Champions League in 2004 and 2005 with with Al-Ittihad Club as well as four Saudi league titles.  He was a participant at the 2002 and 2006 World Cup Finals.  In total, he had 43 caps.

Al-Jahani had 104 caps between 1994 and 2002.  He was a part of tghe team that won the 1996 Asian Cup.  He was a participant in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup, 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup and 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup.
He also participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics.  At the club level, he played most of his career for Al Ahli between 1992 and 2004.

CB: Saleh Nu'eimeh 
Saleh Nu'eimeh was capped 150 times by Saudi Arabia.  He is widely considered the greatest Saudi defender of all-time.  He earned over 150 caps and was one of their longest serving captains.  He played in the 1984 Asian Cup, and was named in the all-star team after the 1988 AFC Asian Cup.  He captained both teams.  Saudi Arabia won both tournaments. At home, he played club football for Al-Hilal FC between 1978 and 1999.
Saleh Nu'eimeh
CB: Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi 
Between 1990 and 2001, Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi played for Saudi Arabia for 142 times.  He was the second most capped Saudi player.  He played at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and at the 1998 World Cup,  He played for Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli. He was a participant in the 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup, 1995 FIFA Confederations Cup, 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup and 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Ahmad Jamil Madani was considered one of Saudi's greatest defenders.  He capped 130 times between 1986 and 1998.  He participated in the 1994 and the 1998 World Cup Finals.  He won the Asian Cup in 1988 and 1996.  He spent his entire career with Al-Ittihad, winning Saudi Premier League three times: 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, and Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1999.

Hamad Al-Montashari won the Asian player of the Year in 2005 for Al attiha's victory at the Asian Champions' League.  He won back-to-back Asian Champions' League in 2004 and 2005 with Al Ittiha. He is considered to be one of Al Ittihad's longest tenured players. From 2002 and 2011, he played 54 times for Saudi Arabia. He went to the World Cup Finals in 2006, and the Asian Cup in 2004 and 2011.
Hamad Al-Montashari
Hussein Sulaimani made 109 appearances for Saudi Arabia.  He was a part of the team that won 1996 AFC Asian Cup at the age of 19. He was selected to 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups.  He became the third Saudian footballer in history to play in Europe when he moved to Neuchâtel Xamax. In 2009, he returned to Saudi Arabia to play for Al-Nassr.

LB: Mohamed Abd Al-Jawad
Mohamed Al-Jawad played with the Saudi national team from 1980 to 1994, winning two Asian Cups in 1984 and 1988. He was capped 103 times between 1980 and 1994. He is one club man. He played his entire career for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia from 1978 to 1995. He won two Saudi Premier League twice.

DM: Fuad Anwar Amin 
Fuad Anwar Amin was 95 times for the national team between 1990 and 1998.  He was at one point the captain.  He went to the 1994 and 1998 World Cup Finals, and won the 1996 Asian Cup.  At the World Cup finals in 1998, he was best remembered as the player stomped by Zinedine Zidane which led to a red card for Zidane.  he also scored two goals.

CM: Fahad Al-Bishi
Fahad Al-Bishi played for Saudi Arabia between 1986 and 1994.  He was a part of the 1988 Asian Cup winning squad.  He won the Arab Player of the Year in 1988.  In 1992, he finished as the top scorer at the Asian Cup. He was voted second at the Asian player of the Year in 1992. He played his entire career with Al-Nassr.

Nawaf Al-Temyat was Asian Player of the Year, Arab Player of the Year and Saudi Player of the Year in 2000.  He played his entire career with Al-Hilal. He won 4 Saudi Premier League (1996, 1998, 2002, 2005 and 2008),  two Asian Cup Winners Cup(1997, 2002), and a single AFC Champions' league in 2000.  A series of injuries prevented him from playing between 2001 and 2004. He participated in two World Cup Finals in 1998 and 2002.
Nawaf Al-Temyat
RW: Yussef Al-Thunayan
Al-Thunayyan was nicknamed "The Philosopher". He is considered among the greatest Saudi players.  He was capped 95 times, winning two Asian Cups in 1988 and 1996.  He played his entire club career for Al-Hilal, joining the first team in 1984 and retiring in 2005. With Al-Hilal, he won the Asian Club Championship in 1992 and 2000. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1998, held in France.

Fahad Al-Ghesheyan is the first Saudi player to play in Europe when he moved to AZ Alkmaar in 1998.   He started his career with Al-Hilal, but was sold to its rival, Al-Nassr.  He was unhappy with the move and retired after a season.  He was only 25 years old. He went to USA 1994, scoring a goal against Sweden.

Al-Dawsari joined Al Hilal as a youth player. In 2018, he joined Spanish club Villarreal on loan, but only made a single game.  In 2023, Al-Dawsari scored two penalties in a 3–2 win over Flamengo in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final, in which his club reached the final for the first time in their history.  At the time of writing, he had about 80 caps for Saudi Arabia.  He scored the winning goal in the upset win against Argentina in 2022 World Cup Finals.

AM/LW: Mohammad Al-Shalhoub
At the time of writing, Mohammad Al-Shalhoub is capped 117 times for Saudi Arabia.  He made his debut as a 20 years old in 2000. He was voted third at the Asian player of the Year in 2006. For his club career, he played his entire club career for Al-Hilal. With Al-Hilal, he won the Asian Club Championship in 2000, Asian Cup Winners Cup in 2002 and 7 Saudi league titles. He went to Germany for the World Cup Finals in 2006.
Mohammad Al-Shalhoub
AM: Mohammed Noor
Mohammed Noor was capped 94 times for the Saudi Arabian national team between 1999 and 2012, and played in both 2002 and 2006 World Cup Finals.  He found successes with club football, where he was a key player with Al-Ittihad that won the Asian Champions' League in 2004 and 2005. He spent a season with Al-Nasr because of financial situation with Al-Ittihad, but returned to his mother club after awhile. He was Arabian Footballer of the Year in 2003.

Sami Al Jaber is Saudi Arabia's second highest goalscorer with 46 goals in 156 internationals. He appeared in four consecutive World Cup Finals, from 1994 to 2006. He was also a member of the Saudi squads which won the Asian Cup in 1996.  He spent the majority of his career from 1988 to 2008 with Al-Hilal. He played briefly for Wolverhampton in 2000 on loan from Al-Hilal.  He won AFC Champions League in 2000, and two Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1997 and 2002.
Nasser Al-Shamrani was the 2014 Asia Player of the Year. He began his professional career at the age of 20 playing with Al-Wehda's first team.  Between 2007 and 2013, he played for Al-Shabab.  He then played for Al Hilal from 2013 to 2017.  He was the top scorer in Saudi Arabia for 5 seasons.  He scored over 200 goals.  He had a brief spell in UAE.  He played 78 times for Saudi Arabia between 2005 and 2018, but never went to the World Cup Finals.

FW:  Saeed Al-Owairan
Saeed Al-Owairan scored the famous goal against Belgium at the World Cup in 1994, which was probably one of the best goals ever scored in a World Cup Finals.  That year, he became the Asian Player of the Year.  He earned 74 caps for Saudi Arabia. Owairan spent his entire club career at Al-Shabab, a Saudi club based in Riyadh.   In 1996,  he was caught drinking alcohol and socializing with women during Ramadan by the Saudi police. He was given a prison sentence and suspended from competitive football for one year.

ST: Yasser Al-Qahtani
At the time of writing, Yasser Al-Qahtani has scored 59 goals for the national team. He had 108 caps between 2002 and 2013.  He was the Asian player of the Year in 2007 after he finished as the top scorer at the Asian Cup.  He spent his club career mainly with Al-Hilal, reaching the Final of the AFC Champions' League twice. He also played in UAE for a season on a loan deal.

ST: Abdullah Majed
Abdullah Majed was considered the greatest player from West Asia.  He won Asian Footballer of the Year three times in 1984, 1985 and 1986. He won the Arabian Player of the Century by Al-Jazeera Channel. He earned 116 caps between 1977 and 1994.  He won the Asian Cup twice in 1984 and 1988.  He  played for Al-Nassr for more than 20 years scoring 320 goals making him Al-Nassr greatest player ever.  He was the captain of the World Cup team in 1994.
Abdullah Majed
Honorable mention
Hussein Al-Sadiq, Mohammed Al-Jahani, Fahad Al-Mehallel, Fahad Al-Musaibeah, Nasser Al-Shamrani, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Osama Hawsawi, Hussein Al-Bishi, Saleh Al-Dawod, Osama Al-Muwallad, Abdullah Zubromawi, Mohammed Al-Breik, Ahmed Al-Dokhi, Saeed Al Mowalad, Khamis Al-Zahrani, Madhi Al Dosari, Mohammed Al Owais, Waleed Abdullah, Shaye Al-Nafisah, Mohammad Al-Sahlawi.

 Squad Explanation
--The original team was created in December, 2014.  It was reviewed in April, 2023.  
-- The Al-Nassr fans believe that Majed Abdullah is the best player in the history of Saudi football, while Al-Hilal fans see Sami Al-Jaber as the greatest off all-time.  Both were automatic selection alongside Mohamad Al-Deayea. 
-- Saudi players won the Asian Player of the Year 8 times. Majed Abdullah (3 times), Saeed Owairan, Nawaf Al-Temyat, Hamad Al-Montashari, Yasser Al-Qahtani and Nasser Al-Shamrani all won the award. 
-- I do not know much about football in Saudi Arabia before the Asian Cup in 1984. This team mainly consists of players from the 1980's onward.   In general, I only heard of three to four players before my research.  I still do not know much about Saudi football after the completion of this team in 2014.  
-- The IFFHS chose the following players for their All-Time Best XI: Mohamed Al-Deayea, Mohamed Al Jahani, Saleh Al-Nu'eimeh, Ahmed Jamil Madani, Mohamed Abd Al-Jawad, Yousuf Al-Thunayan, Mohammed Noor. Fuad Anwar Amin, Sami Al-Jaber, Majed Abdullah
and Saeed Al-Owairan. 
-- The world first noticed Saudi Arabia when they won the 1984 Asian Cup.  They would defend their title four years later by beating South Korea in the 1988 Final.  Saleh Nu'eimeh, Abdullah Majed and goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Deayea made my my all-time team.
Asian Cup 1988
-- Saudi Arabia also has the best result in a World Cup Finals.  They advanced to the second round.  I have twelve members of the 1994 team on this all-time team.  They are Abdullah Majed, Sami Al Jaber, Fahad Al-Ghesheyan, Fahad Al-Bishi, Fuad Anwar Amin, Mohamed Al-Jawad, Ahmad Jamil Madani,  Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi and Mohamed Al Deayea.  Abdullah Majed was 34 years old while Mohamed Al Deayea and Sami Al Jaber were 21 years old.  Both Mohamad Al-Deayea and Sami Jaber would play in the next three World Cup Finals.
-- Saudi Arabia beat Argentina in the 2022 World Cup Finals.  I added Salem Al-Dawsari to the team and Mohammed Al Owais to honorable mention.
-- Liked players from other Persian Gulf countries, Saudi players do not usually play aboard.  In fact, they always stayed with Saudi clubs.  Fahad Al-Ghesheyan and Sami Al Jaber played briefly in Europe.
Goalkeeper
-- Mohamad Al-Deayea is widely recognised as the greatest goalkeeper from the Persian Gulf. He was voted Goalkeeper of the Century in Asia. He is the most capped goalkeeper in football history.
-- In 2014, I selected his older brother Abdullah Al-Deayea as one of the three goalkeepers. He was the Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the 1984 Asian Cup.  My third goalkeeper was Waleed Abdullah.  But in 2023, I found two Arab sources that did not even list Abdullah Al-Deayea on the top 10 greatest goalkeepers from Saudi Arabia, and Waleed Abdullah was listed as number 10 in one of the lists.  Their status was put into question.
-- Both sources ranked the top three extactly the same.  Mohamad Al-Deayea was number one obviously. Mabrouk Zaid and Madhi Al Dosari were ranked 2nd and 3rd.  I decided to go with Al Deayea and Zaid, but not to select Al Dosari because I almost found no information on him.  I also did not know why Zaid was ranked so high, but the Arab sources must have known better.
-- Instead, I looked into other goalkeepers for the third spot. Mohammed Al Owais was named as the man of the match as Saudi Arabia upset Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.  But apart from that match, I was not impressed with what I learned of him.  Waleed Abdullah was Saudi Arabia's starting keeper since 2007.  He has earned over 70 caps for Saudi Arabia.  He went to the Asian Cup in 2007, 2011 and 2015.  He did not play in the 2007 edition due to the death of his daughter. He played for Al-Shabab at home from 2006 until 2017, where he moved to Al-Nassr FC.  As mentioned, Abdullah Al-Deayea is the elder brother of Mohamed Al Deayea.  He was the starting keeper for Saudi Arabia's Asian Cup winning team in 1984 and 1988.  He was voted the best keeper in the 1984 Asian Cup, and he helped Saudi Arabia to win the penalty shootout in the 1988 Final. Both tournaments put Saudi Arabia on the football map.  He should be on the team.  Another Saudi website actually listed him as the 6th greatest ever Saudi footballer even through my two goalkeeping list did not rank him (perhaps, the information was lost in translation).
Defenders
-- According to Saudi sources I found in 2023, Saleh Nu'eimeh or Ahmed Jamil were the two greatest defenders from Saudi Arabia. Saleh Nu'eimeh captained the national side as they won both 1984 and 1988 Asian Cup.  Known as "High Dam", Ahmed Jamil was a star at the 1994 World Cup Finals.  Hamad Al-Montashari won the Asian player of the Year in 2005 for Al-Ittihad's victory at the Asian Champions' League.  He was the third Saudi player to win the award.  
-- In 2023, I came across Osama Hawsawi.  He was capped 138 times.  He won the Al-Riyadiya Awards as the best defender in the Saudi league 6 times.  I also used Chatgpt for this research in 2023.  He was listed as Saudi's greatest defender, but I stayed with human research for now.  I found some error from Chatfpt and used it to correct them all the time.  I decided to stay with Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi. Hawsawi's exclusion might be the biggest question mark on this team.  
-- Osama Al-Muwallad also won the Al-Riyadiya Awards as the best defender three times.
-- Between 1993 and 2002, Abdullah Zubromawi played 142 times for the Saudi national team.  He went to three World Cup Finals in 1994, 1998 and 2002.   In addition, he also represented Saudi Arabia at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games, and three Confederation Cup.  At the club level, he played mostly for Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal and Damac FC in his home country.  he was on the 2014 team, but I dropped him in 2023.
-- The IFFHS selected Mohammed Sheliah Al-Jahani as their starting rightback for their Saudi All-Time team.  Mohammed Al-Breik made their AFC Team of the Decade (2011-2020). I also came across Ahmed Al-Dokhi who picked up 113 caps.  But in 2014, I selected Abdullah Al-Dosari. He helped Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Cup in 1988.  He also represented the national team at the 1992 Asian  Cup and 1994 World Cup Finals in the USA.  He was a part of the team that finished second at the 1992 King Fahd Cup held in Saudi Arabia. For cup football, he played for Al-Ittihad. Saeed Al Mowalad also deserved a mention too.  In the end, I trusted IFFHS and took Mohammed Sheliah Al-Jahani.
-- Leftback Hussein Abdulghani went to three World Cup Finals.  He was the third Saudi footballer ever to play in Europe.  His first international cap came when he was 19 years old and his last as a 43 years old.  His longevity also helped his case. Then, I selected Mohamed Abd Al-Jawad.  One of the Saudi source listed him as the 4th greatest ever Saudi player. 
-- Yasser Al-Shahrani was Saudi's best defender heading toward the 2022 World Cup Finals. He suffered a serious injury against Argentina while in Qatar, which generated a lot of sympathetic coverage.  He made honorable mention.
Midfielders
-- Fouad Anwar Amin scored two goals in the 1994 World Cup Finals, including the Kingdom's first ever goal in the Finals. Football fans might remembered Zinedine Zidane's unsportman like conduct against him at the 1998 World Cup FinalsNawaf Al-Temyat was Asian Player of the Year, Arab Player of the Year and Saudi Player of the Year in 2000.  The two were undisputed in the middle of the field on this team.
Fouad Anwar Amin
-- I am not sure about Fahad Al-Bishi's playing style.  He might be a more advanced playmaker, but one sources said that he could also contribute defensively.  Despite finishing second at the 1993 Asian Player of the Year, he seemed to be lesser famous than the other players.  He was a part of the team that won the 1988 Asian Cup.
-- Right winger Fahad Al-Muwallad was ranked the 3rd greatest ever Saudi player by an Arab list.  He was described as an extremely fast winger.  However,  he had some issues with doping.  He withdrew from the 2022 World Cup Finals because of a pending case at the time in which he would later be suspended for 18 months from football. Besides, I felt that he had not done enough in his career.  He was not going to unseat Al-Thunayyan who is considered among the greatest Saudi players.  Fahad Al-Ghesheyan is the first Saudi player to play in Europe when he moved to AZ Alkmaar in 1998.  He retired prematurely at the age of 25 because he was upset that his club team Al Hilal sold him to rival Al Nassr.  I felt that he was a border case because he retired too early, but he broke a milestone in saudi football by going to Europe.  Furthermore, Al-Muwallad's doping issues were far greater than his.  So I retained him.
-- Left winger  Salem Al-Dawsari scored winning goal against Argentina at the 2022 World Cup Finals.  Even before Qatar, he was considered their best player.  He won the 2021 AFC Champions League MVP.  He also scored the winning goal against Egypt 4 years ago.  In 2023, I added him to the team while dropping Khaled Al-Muwallid. 
Salem Al-Dawsari
-- Khaled Al-Muwallid was capped 114 times for Saudi Arabia between 1988 and 1998.  He made professional debut before he turned 17 with Al Ahli and he joined Al-Ittihad 2001. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1994 and 1998. He also won the Asian Cup in 1996 and also participated at the 1988 Asian Cup.
-- Mohammad Al-Shalhoub would be the other wing-side attacker.  He came third as the Asian Player of the Year in 2006. His name was mentioned frequently as a top Saudi player.
-- Then, Mohammed Noor was another easy choices.  He was a key player with Al-Ittihad that won the Asian Champions' League in 2004 and 2005.  Of course, Sami Al Jaber needed no introduction. I watched a lot of him.  I am surprised that he was never Asian Player of the Year.  He went to four World Cup Finals, which is a record for Arab players.  
Forwards
-- Abdullah Majed won the Arabian Player of the Century by Al-Jazeera Channel.  In his prime, he was known as the "Desert Pele".  He scored 260 goals in 240 games for his club team Al Nassr, 71 goals in 116 games for the national team.
-- Nasser Al-Shamrani received the Asian Player of the Year in 2014 under the controversial situation.   He happened to receive a 8 match ban from AFC only a few hours before he was to receive the award.  He was not on this team in 2014.  I was probably unaware of him receiving the award at the time of my research given the timing of the award.  He was the Saudi Pro League top scorer: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14.  He is the second top scorer in the history of the Saudi league.
-- Some Saudi sources did list Shaye Al-Nafisah, Hamzah Idris and Saad Al-Harthi as their greatest forwards, but I don't understand why.  The other candidate who was mentioned frequently was Yasser Al-Qahtani.  He is their third all-time leading scorer behind Abdullah Majed and Sami Ali Jaber.  Obeid Al-Dosari was 4th with just a goal behind him.  I also looked into Mohammad Al-Sahlawi.
-- Saeed Al-Owairan is probably the most famous Saudi player because of his goal against Belgium at the World Cup Finals in 1994. The goal sent the Saudis to the second round of the World Cup Finals. It was later voted the 6th best in FIFA's Goal of the Century rankings. The goal can be seen here.

Starting lineup
Formation: 4-2-1-3



1 comment:

  1. Al-Deayea
    Al-Dokhi Tukar Al-Montashari Al-Shahrani
    Al-Thunayan Al-Temyat Al-Bishi Al-Dawsari
    Noor Abdullah-Majed

    based on individual awards, i placed Tukar over Nu'eimeh and Noor over Jaber. Y.Al Shahrani and Al-Thunayan have impressive footage.

    ReplyDelete