The Man Behind The Goals
(A Biography)
A Little Star
In 1958 and in the coastal city of Jeddah in the locality of the Red Sea, he was born as Majed Ahmad Abdullah Mohammed.
After spending the first six years of his life there, his family had to move to Riyadh the capital of Saudi Arabia. His father, A football coach, had a new coaching job at "Al-Nassr" club. This move changed the course of his life, and in turn changed the course of Saudi football.He had his first look at the sport while accompanying his father to Al-Nassr club training sessions. The father was coaching the junior team.
When he got to primary school, football was already in his agenda, he was regularly playing at school, and in neighborhood teams. He played in every position, but ironically he favored the goalkeeper's.
When he was 10 years old, an incident changed all that. While his neighborhood team was getting ready to play a match, one of the forward players did not show up, so the coach asked Majed to fill in. He filled the position well and scored two goals to lead his team to a 3-1 win, and to the good fortunes of Saudi football he never changed that position since.
Majed started to develop into a dominant goal scorer and became widely known in neighborhood football, and inter-school tournaments, even his father used to squeeze himself between the spectators, without Majed's knowledge, to see how good his left-footed son got.
The yellow dream
Many teams started talking about signing him as an amateur, pro-football was not established at the time, but his future was already decided. Due to the fact that his father was closely related to Al-Nassr club, Majed has developed into a devoted fan of that club, and wearing its yellow and blue shirt was his dream.
The head coach of Al-Nassr club at the time was the legendary Yugoslav born Brocic. He had a chance to see Majed play, and only a few minutes were enough to convince him that he had found a Diamond, and he requested that the player should be quickly signed. Signed he was, on 9-11-1975.
Majed had his dream come true when he joined the junior team in his first ever training session with them.
But the start wasn't that easy. Majed found it hard to leave his teammates from the neighborhood and the school. So he tried to divide his time between Al-Nassr club, the neighborhood team, and the school team, in addition to studying in the intermediate school. It was a hectic schedule.
After a disorganized year, Majed knew Al-Nassr was his future, so he gave it all his time.
The early years
Majed started to sharpen his skills under the supervision of coach Brocic who was one of three people to shape his career. The other two were his father and the president of Al-Nassr club Prince Abdul-Rahman.
The coach was so impressed with the potential new star that he promoted him to practice with the first team. But due to Majed's young age and weak build at the time, the coach felt that he still needed more time to play for the first team in the newly inaugurated premier league.
Majed thought his chance would come during a 1976 pre-season training camp in England, when he was selected to play with the first team in a friendly against a second division English team. Majed took the chance well, scoring one goal in a 4-0 win. But an injury during that game prevented him from playing or practicing for the rest of the camp, and instead of making his mark, he turned into a mere spectator.
After coming back to Riyadh the impressed coach cheered him up and told him "Keep practicing seriously, and if you improve, I will put you in the first team as a forward".
On the 14th of January 1977, he was given the first chance to play in front of Al-Nassr fans in Riyadh in a friendly against the Moroccan team Alfat'h. He only played the last 20 minutes, and was so nervous that the game ended without him being noticed.
A week later he played his first ever official game in the premier league against Alshabab with 20 minutes to go, he did not score but made quite a good impression on the fans, and most importantly on his coach.
He played in the next game, and in the third against Alwihdah he scored his first goal ever, the date was 18-3-1977. It was the first of 533 goals.He played two more games, to close the season, and although his club finished second, Al-Nassr fans did not take it as a lost season.
Majed became the talk of the town. The fans, the press, and the other teams knew that an exceptional player has come on the scene, and everyone should brace himself for the marvels ahead.
The green shirt
Majed's five appearances were enough to have him selected to the youth national team preparing to play in a friendly tournament in Tebriz, Iran.
In this early-summer 1977 tournament Majed made his mark as a goal-scoring machine. The Saudi team finished second but Majed won the top scorer award, with 7 goals.The Saudi National team coaches took notice and directly selected him for the first team.
It took Majed only five games in the league to fulfil his biggest dream: to wear the green and white shirt of the national team. Since then, Majed was selected to every Saudi Arabian national team from 1977 to 1994.The first game he played with the national team was a friendly against Benfica of Portugal, and he was an instant success. Majed scored two goals, the first was a marvel: he took the ball inside the Saudi half and started a run from behind the circle, getting past two defenders, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, and finishing in style with his left foot.
With the addition of Majed and many new talented players, the Saudi national team kept improving until they became the best Asian team by the end of the eighties.
Al-Nassr, a 22 years-long love story
Al-Nassr finished the inaugural season of the premier league at second place among 8 teams; the club fans did not panic, because they knew they had Majed, plus a mixture of talented young and veteran players. But in the second season, with the number of teams extended to 10, Al-Nassr again finished second and Majed was also second in the scorers' list, he missed most of the season due to an injury.
In the third season, Majed was the league's top scorer with 13 goals, even with the presence of top foreign players like Brazil's Rivalinho, but to Al-Nassr fans' frustration, the club again finished second. The second place had become an enigma for the club, and Brocic the coach who brought Majed to light and built the club to a high standard had to be sacked. It was a sad moment in Majed's career as he once said.
In 1980 Majed and his teammates were determined not to let the title slip away, and with the new Brazilian coach Formiga, they led from start to finish, and won the league's shield for the first time. Majed won the top scorer title for the second time in a row with 17 goals.
The club's best year came in 1981, when Al-Nassr made an unprecedented achievement by wining the league title for a second consecutive time, then they made the double by winning the king's Cup. Majed won the league's top scorer title for a third consecutive year with 21 goals in 16 matches (he missed the last two of 18 matches for an injury). That qualified him to win the golden boot as the top scorer in the Arab countries.
The following years were not as good for Al-Nassr. Having Majed in their team was such an advantage that they had to pay a tax; the tax was having him away from the club for extremely long periods due to injuries or national team duties. But whenever Majed came back and the club had a good lineup, Al-Nassr would come to life again.
After a 4-year drought, they were back in the winner circle again. In the period from 1986 to 1990 Al-Nassr managed to win the league title for a third time, among 12 teams, and the King's cup 3 times. Needless to say Majed played the key role in winning these titles.
Majed was able to make history by winning the league's top scorer title three more times during the eighties, making it 6. If injuries and national team commitments allowed him, he could have easily won at least 3 more.
In the years from 1991 to 1993 Majed was virtually absent from the league, due to consecutive serious injuries. Al-Nassr won the league title for a fourth time in 1994 but Majed did not play a single match due to his full engagement with the national team trying to qualify for the World Cup.
Majed concluded his long love story with Al-Nassr in a beautiful way by winning a title every year: the premier league in 1995, the Gulf clubs' Championship in 1996 and 1997, and the Asian cup winners cup in 1998 which witnessed his final goal, and final appearance.
Saudi Football, The Golden Years
When Majed joined the National team it was at its lowest level; the fans had lost faith in them because of consecutive failures, and instead turned their attention to local games and the rival teams' derby.
But the then newly established premier league in 1976 brought a new breed of players like Majed and many others, who started to give the national team a new face and identity and grab the fans attention.Majed made himself known in the gulf region in march of 1979, during the 5th Gulf countries' Cup when he finished with 7 goals in 5 matches. He made history in that tournament when he scored 5 goals in a single match against Qatar.
The late seventies and early eighties witnessed the growing pains of the young Saudi national team. Although the team was developing in performance, results were not.
After failing to qualify for the 1982 world cup, the team coach, Menilli, of Brazil was replaced by another big Brazilian name, Zagallo, who made some progress, but the team could not deliver when it mattered.After an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Iraq in the 7th Gulf Cup in march of 1984, Zagallo was sacked midway through the tournament. The replacement was a popular Saudi coach named Al-Zayani. The Saudi Football Federation selected him as a temporary caretaker, he was planning to stay longer.
In the remaining three matches the team had two wins and a tie, and jumped from sixth to third place.
A few weeks later was the final Asian qualifying round for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. But with Majed injured, the team captain suspended, and under an inexperienced coach, everyone expected the usual: A failure.Surprisingly, the team played to the highest level, won three, tied one, and scored 13 goals in 4 matches under the leadership of enthusiastic coach Al-Zayani and a 17 years old new star named Mohaisen who scored five. But the big Factor was Majed, who rose from injury to score 6 unforgettable goals in just 4 matches, Including two goals in a classic against South Korea which the Saudi won 5-4 after being down 0-2.
The Saudis qualified for the Olympics for the first time ever, and Asia was stunned by Majed's marvels. The Asian football fans and media took notice of that tall, dark player wearing number 9.
Although qualifying for the Olympics may not seem as a big achievement by today's standards, it was a turning point in the history of Saudi football, and it was the first success.
In the Olympics they were overwhelmed in their first appearance on such an international stage and lost all three games, Majed managed to score a goal in a 1-3 loss to Brazil.
In December of that year, the Saudi team participated in the 8th Asian nations cup. It was their first appearance, and they made it a memorable one. They stormed through all the big Asian names, South Korea, Kuwait, Iran, and China.
In the final the Saudis beat China 2-0 with Majed scoring the second, probably the best goal of his career. He made a fast run from the mid-field, past two defenders, dummied the goalkeeper and sent the ball home.
It was a golden year for Saudi football; making two major successes in one year.The Saudis won the Asian nations cup again in 1988, this time under the coaching of the Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira. It was a bit tougher than the first, other teams studied the Saudis well, and Majed was a well-known player, defenders would not give him a breathing space. But Majed was able to lead his team to the final when he scored a beautiful header against Iran in a 1-0 semi-final win. The Saudis had to face the tough South Korean team in the final. After a 0-0 draw in regulation, Saudis won it in the penalty shoot-out 4-3, with Majed Confidently converting his shot.
The squad who won that cup is still considered by many as the best Saudi team ever assembled.
The biggest success for Saudi football would come in 1994 when they qualified for the second round of the World Cup held in the USA. Although Majed was injured for most of the Asian qualifying rounds, he managed three appearances in which he scored three crucial goals.
Being the oldest and most experienced, Majed was the team captain in the World Cup finals. The Saudis made a surprising success by qualifying for the second round after beating Belgium 1-0, It was Majed's last international appearance in the "green and white".
Could His Talent Be Measured?
It is tough. Majed Abdullah was a natural talent. Although he was left-footed, he could score with both feet and head. When he joined Al-Nassr, he sharpened his skills and became a prolific goal-scorer and a symbol of a perfect striker.
He was a fast runner, an artist in the air, a master of headers from all angles, a breath-taking dribbler, an almost perfect penalty shooter, a sharp foul shooter, and a fatally cool finisher.
Majed could have improved more and made a bigger success if he had been allowed to play abroad. But the Saudi football federation banned local players from playing abroad. They were building a strong team and wrongly thought that letting them play abroad would disrupt their plans. A few weeks after Majed's retirement, the ban was lifted.
A Marvel Un-awarded
While Majed was having great success during the eighties, the Asian Football Confederation was snoring their heads off. They did not bother to hold a championship for Asian league or cup winners; they had no interest in honoring an Asian player or team of the year.
It was not until the 90's that they woke up and started doing their job. Although it was late in Majed's career, he managed to win the Asian Player of the month award in its inaugural month of June 1995, and again in January 1997.
He failed twice to win the Asian clubs championship with Al-Nassr, but was able to close his career by winning the Asian cup winners cup in 1998.
In 1996 Majed made it to the top of The Centenary Club as the player with the most international appearances for his country with 147 international matches. He is still in the list with 139 matches; 8 games were discounted after scrutiny. Although he is known to have appeared in more than 170 internationals, FIFA counts only what is defined as "Class-A matches", excluding many Olympic, and friendly games.
In 1999 the Asian Football Confederation introduced its own century list, Majed was first with 140. And in February of 1999 the Asian football confederation supervised a voting for the Asian player of the century, Majed raked 3rd and was given a special award by the federation's president, long overdue!
The Fans, a Crazy Tale
Majed Abdullah had his own fans, and they were crazy about him. They were not necessarily Al-Nassr fans, but they would come to the stadium just to see him play.
There were people who wouldn't care much about football, but when he came on the TV they would sit and watch.
His fans would pay for tickets to Al-Nassr or national team matches, but once they knew he was not playing they would leave the stadium instantly.Because they had faith in him, they would still look for him to make something happen even after 90 minutes. Although it put him under constant pressure, he rarely disappointed them.
They used to give him nicknames like the flaming arrow, the goalkeepers executioner, the Diamond of Arabia, Pele of the desert, cloud number 9, the dark gazelle, the golden head, the Diamond of Asian football.
He appeared on the cover of many Arabic magazines, and to document his career, two Documentary films were produced, and three books were written.
After The Flame
Majed made his last appearance on the 12th of April 1998, at 40 years old, in the final of Asia's Cup winners cup, which Al-Nassr won 1-0 against Samsung of South Korea. He scored his last goal two days earlier in the semi-final against Kopetdag of Turkmenistan (2-1).
Al-Nassr club retired Majed's number "9" and no other club player will wear it forever.
Currently, he is the supervisor of football teams in Al-Nassr club. After his retirement, Many plans have been made for a farewell game, but as yet nothing has materialized.
He is currently working as commentator for the Saudi Sports Channel