Sami al-Jaber

Sami Abdullah al-Jaber (born in 1972) is a former Saudi football player who represented the Saudi national team in four consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup. After retiring, he worked as a coach and technical director for local and Gulf teams. He served as president of al-Hilal SFC, then as an advisor to the Chairman of the General Sports Authority (currently Ministry of Sport) and was responsible for international relations. FIFA previously selected him to be a member of the list for selecting the world's best player.

He began his football career with the junior teams of al-Hilal SFC, then joined the youth category at the club. In 1989, he joined the first team, with which he achieved many championships at the local, Gulf, and continental levels, most notably the AFC Champions League under its former name "Asian Club Championship" in 1992 and 2000. He also won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup title twice in 1997 and 2002, in addition to the Asian Super Cup title in 1997. Throughout his career with the club, he scored 177 goals.

Sami al-Jaber participated with the Saudi national team in the FIFA World Cup finals four consecutive times in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006, and scored three goals in its different editions. He also competed in many other tournaments at the international and continental levels, including World Cup qualifiers and Asian Cup qualifiers in several editions, and participated in the Gulf Cup tournaments. He also participated with the national team in 156 matches, during which he scored forty-six goals, and played sixty-seven full matches. He was part of the squad that won the Gulf Cup title in 1994 and 2002.

At the end of 2000, Sami al-Jaber turned professional at Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, and the deal was a loan period of five months with an option to buy, making him the first Saudi player to play in England.

The player Sami al-Jaber retired from football, and his retirement match was held in 2008 in a game that brought together al-Hilal SFC and Manchester United. After retiring from football, Sami al-Jaber moved to work in the field of coaching and had coaching experience abroad, where he worked as an assistant coach with French club AJ Auxerre. He was then appointed General Manager of Football at al-Hilal SFC and supervised the technical management at al-Shabab FC, al-Wahda FC in UAE, and al-Arabi SC in Qatar. He also worked as a match analyst on TV channels.