Majed Abdullah

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. Following an injury to first-choice striker Mohammad Al-Abdeli, Abdullah was given a chance to prove himself. He repaid that trust by scoring three goals in the final three rounds of the league against Al-Shabab, Al-Ahli and derby rivals Al-Hilal. On 5 May 1977, Abdullah scored twice in the 4–0 against Hajer in the 1977 King Cup. He then scored twice against Al-Nahda in the Round of 16 and scored the opener in the 2–1 win against Al-Qadsiah in the quarter-finals. Al-Nassr were…

Early years

Majed made his senior team debut in the 1978 Saudi Arabia Football Federation International Tournament, where scored two goals in his debut match against Pakistan, ending in a 6–0 victory. Majed played for Saudi Arabia in the 1979 Arabian Gulf Cup, scoring 7 goals in 6 matches, and notably scoring five against Qatar in a 7–0 win. He continued to play in the Arabian Gulf Cup, participating in the 1982, 1984 and 1986 tournaments.

International success

Majed represented his country at the 1984 AFC Asian Cup, first scoring a 90th-minute equalizer against South Korea in the group stage, then scoring again in the final against China to help Saudi Arabia secure their first Asian Cup title. He played in the next tournament in 1988, scoring a goal against Iran in the semi-finals and then converting his kick in the penalty shoot-out of the final against South Korea as his side retained their title. Majed also represented Saudi Arabia in the 1984 Summer Olympics, scoring a goal against Brazil.

Later years

He helped the country to a silver medal at the 1986 Asian Games, as well as another silver medal at the 1992 Arab Cup. Majed marked his last appearances for Saudi Arabia at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, then retired from international football shortly afterwards.

Club

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International

Statistics accurate as of match played 29 June 1994

International goals

Majed was born 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. 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.