Saeed Al-Owairan

Saeed Ali Al-Owairan Al-Dossari (Arabic: سعيد علي العويران الدوسري‎; born 19 August 1967) is a Saudi Arabian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward for Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab. Widely considered to be one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time,^[2] Al-Owairan is renowned for his goal against Belgium in the 1994 World Cup, which was considered the sixth-best in FIFA's Goal of the Century rankings. He scored 283 goals across his 13-year career.

Saeed Al-Owairan

Personal information
Full name	Saeed Ali Al Owairan Al Dossari ^[1]
Date of birth	(1967-08-19) 19 August 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia^[1]
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–2001	Al-Shabab
International career
1991–1998	Saudi Arabia	75	(24)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Saudi Arabia FIFA Arab Cup Runner-up 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup Runner-up 1992 AFC Asian Cup Runner-up 1992
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Owairan spent his entire club career at Al-Shabab, a Saudi club based in Riyadh.^{[citation needed]}

He won 85 caps for the Saudi Arabia national team, scoring 34 goals, including seven in 1994 World Cup Qualifiers.^{[citation needed]} He achieved international renown at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, in which he scored a stunning individual goal against Belgium at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. that was later voted the sixth best in FIFA's Goal of the Century rankings.^[3] The goal sent Saudi Arabia through to the second round of the World Cup for the first time.^{[citation needed]} They subsequently lost 3–1 to Sweden in the Round of 16.^{[citation needed]}

Following the World Cup, Owairan returned to Saudi Arabia. The same year he was named as Asian Footballer of the Year.^[4] Despite interest from European clubs, he was unable to leave the country due to a national law preventing Saudi footballers from playing abroad.^[5] Although he was selected as part of the Saudi Arabia national team at the 1998 World Cup in France, he only made two appearances as Saudi Arabia went out in the group stages.^{[citation needed]}

Club career stats

As of match played 1 July 2023

Club	Season	League			King Cup		Saudi Crown Prince Cup		Arabian Compétitions		GCC Champions League		Asian Compétitions
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Al Shabab	1988–89	SPL
	1989–90
	1990–91
	1991–92			16
	1992–93									4 ^[a]		3		4 ^[b]
	1993–94											4
	1994–95									1 ^[c]				1 ^[d]
	1995–96
	1996–97									1 ^[e]
	1997–98
	1998–99			11
	1999–2000			4						4^[f]^[g]
	2000–01			2
Career total				60				10		10		8		5

1. 4 Goals in 1992 Arab Club Champions Cup
2. 4 Goals in 1992–93 Asian Club Championship
3. 1 Goal in 1995 Arab Cup Winners' Cup
4. 1 Goal in 1994–95 Asian Club Championship
5. 1 Goal in 1997 Arab Cup Winners' Cup
6. 3 Goals in 1999 Arab Club Champions Cup
7. 1 Goal in 2000 Arab Super Cup

Honours

Al-Shabab

• Arab Club Champions Cup:1992,^[6]1999^[7]
• Saudi Premier League :1990–91,^[8]1991–92,^[9]1992–93^[10]
• Asian Cup Winners' Cup:2000–01^[11]

Saudi Arabia

• Arab Nations Cup runner-up:1992^[12]
• King Fahd Cup runner-up:1992^[13]
• AFC Asian Cup runner-up:1992^[14]

Individual

• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer: 1993
• Best Bombardier Saudi Premier League:1991–92^[9]

References

1. "Saeed Al-Owairan". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
2. "The greatest Asian footballer of all time - ranked". 90min. from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
3. . FIFA. Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
4. "Asian Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
5. "World Cup's Greatest Goals: Saeed Al-Owairan (1994, SAUDI ARABIA vs. Belgium)". espnfc.com. from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
6. "8th Arab Club Champions Cup 1992". from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
7. "15th Arab Club Champions Cup 1999". from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
8. "Saudi Arabia 1990/91". from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
9. "Saudi Arabia 1991/92". from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
10. "Saudi Arabia 1992/93". from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
11. "Asian Club Competitions 2000/01". from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
12. "Arab Cup". from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
13. . www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
14. "Japan - Saudi-Arabien 1:0 (Asian Cup 1992 Japan, Finale)". from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.

External links

• Saeed Al-Owairan at National-Football-Teams.com