Soccer (Football)

The 10 biggest Arab football stars

The Egyptian Messi, the Desert Pele… Players who went to Wigan, Porto, Chelsea and the Bolton Wanderers. Who are the legends of Arabian football?

Written by Suzanne Locke - UAE

4 min readPublished on 16.07.2017 · 15:37 UTC

1. Mohamed Salah - the Egyptian Messi

Born: 15 June 1992, Basyoun, Egypt

Salah first played for his national team at just 19 and won the Swiss Super League in his first season with Basel in 2012/13, before becoming the first Egyptian to sign for Chelsea. They swapped him with Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado in January 2015… and are said to be regretting the two-year loan to Fiorentina, who have the option to buy him for €20m.

2. Majed Abdullah - the Arabian Jewel or Desert Pele

Born: 1 November 1958, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Spending his entire club career at Al Nassr in Riyadh, and scored nearly 200 league goals in his 21-year domestic career, Abdullah is now their manager. Held the world record for international appearances with 140 caps for Saudi Arabia, and made it to the 1994 USA World Cup as Saudi Arabia qualified for the first time ever. When he set up a Twitter account last year, it was flooded with 214K fans in the first two hours.

3. Ali Al Habsi

Born: 30 December 1981, Muscat, Oman

Wigan Athletic goalkeeper and captain of the Oman team, Al Habsi became the first Omani to play in Europe, for Norwegian team Lyn Oslo, before transferring to Bolton Wanderers in 2006. He is the first Arab player to win the FA Cup. The 1.96m goalie led Oman to win the Gulf Cup of Nations for the first time and got his 100th cap with the national side in the 2015 Asian cup.

4. Rabah Madjer

Born: December 15, 1958, Algiers, Algeria

Porto and Algeria legend Madjer took Algeria to the final in the 1980 African Cup of Nations after a 12-year absence, and then captained the Desert Eagles to their only win a decade later, as well as taking them to two World Cups. He scored 29 goals for FC Porto between 1985 and 1988, including the equalizer that got Porto their first European Cup. He managed several clubs and the Algerian team.

5. Hossam Hassan

Born: 10 August 1966, Cairo, Egypt

Egyptian retired striker and manager of Al-Ittihad Alexandria since 2014, Hassan is Egypt’s top ever scorer, with 68 goals. He represented the national team in the 1990 World Cup and in seven Africa Cups of Nations. Twin brother Ibrahim played for most of the same teams. Hassan first played for Al-Ahly at 18 and won 25 titles with the club, including 11 leagues. He retired at 42 and went on to manage Al-Masry, Itesalat and Zamalek.

6. Omar Amoory Abdulrahman

Born: 20 September 1991, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Taking the UAE to third place in the 2015 Asian Cup, Abdulrahman has turned his back on any imminent European move - despite interest from clubs including Arsenal and Barcelona and a brief trial with Manchester City - by inking a four-year deal with Al Ain (with whom he’s been since he was 15) thought to be worth AED 14m a year.

7. Sami Al Jaber

Born: 11 December 1972, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Now manager of Al Wahda, Abu Dhabi, Al Jaber played at four World Cups, won 163 international caps and scored 46 goals for the Kingdom in a two-decade career, before retiring in 2008. He won the Saudi League seven times with Al Hilal, as well as two Asian Champions League titles. He briefly played at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2000/2001.

8. Mohamed Aboutrika

Born: November 7, 1978, Giza, Egypt

Retiring in December 2013, Aboutrika was named best Africa Player of the Year four times and tallied 38 goals for the national team in 100 appearances, including four World Cup goals - three in the 2006 games alone, where he was top scorer. His only spell abroad was with Abu Dhabi club Baniyas for six months in the last year of his career.

9. Ismail Matar

Born: 7 April 1983, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Plays for Al Wahda and captains the UAE national team. Matar was awarded the Golden Ball at the 2003 World Youth Championships. Led the UAE to their first ever trophy, the 2007 Gulf Cup of Nations in Abu Dhabi, scoring five goals in five games as player of the tournament.

10. Noureddine Naybet

Born: 10 February 1970, Casablanca, Morocco

Naybet played a record 115 matches for the Morocco national football team over 16 years. He joined Deportivo La Coruna in 1996 and won one Spanish League title, one Copa Del Rey and two Spanish Super Cups. Went to Tottenham Hotspur in 2004 for two seasons but only scored one goal against Arsenal. Retired in 2006.

Soccer (Football)