Majed Abdullah

Majed Ahmed Abdullah (ماجد احمد عبد الله; born 11 January 1959) is a Saudi Arabian former professional footballer who played as a striker for Al Nassr FC and the Saudi Arabia national team.

He is the all-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 the Saudi Pro League.

He was often referred to by his nickname "the Arabian Jewel".

Majed Abdullah is regarded as one of the greatest Western Asian strikers of all time.

He was nominated for IFFHS Asia's Player of the Century, finishing third place.

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.

In the mid-1960s, Abdullah and his family moved to Riyadh where his father got a job as the manager of Al-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 a goalkeeper.

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 to Hotat 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.

Mohammed Al-Hudayan, a teammate at Al-Ittifaq, recommended Abdullah to Al-Nassr president Prince Abdulrahman Bin Saud, as did Al-Ittifaq's coach Nasseb Awad to Khaled Al-Turki and Al-Nassr coach Ljubiša Broćić.

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.

Abdullah spent 2 years playing for the youth teams before being promoted to the senior team.

He made his senior debut in a friendly against Moroccan side Al-Fath in January 1977.

He made his competitive debut on 20 January 1977 by coming off the bench in the league match against Al-Shabab replacing Ibrahim Al-Hamoud.

Abdullah once again came off the bench in the 2–1 defeat to Al-Qadsiah on 14 March 1977 to make his second appearance for Al-Nassr.

On 18 March, Abdullah made his first start as well as score his first goal for Al-Nassr, when he headed in Nasser Al-Johar's cross, in the league match against Al-Wehda.

In 1984 Saudi Arabia qualified for their first-ever global international tournament at the Olympic 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 the Asian 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 in 1988, he would score twice in the tournament in Qatar as the Saudi team retained the title by beating South Korea on penalties.

Majed was born to a Sudanese family in the Al-Baghdadia District in Jeddah.

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.

With Abdullah leading the attack, Al-Nassr won five League titles and four King Cup titles as well as the 1997–98 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.