Yousuf Al-Thunayan

Youssef Al-Thunayyan
Personal information
Full name Youssef Al-Thunayyan
Date of birth (1963-11-18) November 18, 1963
Place of birth Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Winger / Attacking Midfielder
Youth career
1981–1983 Al-Hilal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–2003 Al-Hilal 350 (183)
National team
1986–1998 Saudi Arabia 81 (20)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Yousuf Al-Thunayyan (Arabic: يوسف الثُنيان‎‎, born November 18, 1963) is a former association football winger and attacking midfielder from Saudi Arabia. He spent all 21 seasons of his senior career at Al-Hilal FC. An elite playmaker, renowned for his elegance, vision, dribbling skills, ball control and technique, Al-Thunayyan was nicknamed "The Philosopher" due to his amazing abilities in terms of dribbling, unique goal scoring, and distribution. Therefore, he has been widely regarded as the greatest player in Saudi Arabia and Asia as well, and one of the greatest players of all time.

Club career

Al-Thunayan played his entire club career for Al-Hilal, joining the first team in 1984 and retiring in 2005 after winning a total of 24 titles with the club. On 14 December 2005, Al-Hilal hosted Valencia in his farewell match.[1]

International career

During his active career, Al-Thunayan played 95 international matches and scored 33 goals for the Saudi Arabian national team. At the age of 34 he was selected for his only Football World Cup, and appeared in two games, scoring from the penalty spot in the 2-2 draw with South Africa.[2] He helped the Saudi national team to win the Asian nations cup twice. The first one was in 1988 in Doha, Qatar, when he did his best performance. The second one was in 1996 in U.A.E. Al Thunayan did a brilliant job in the quarter final against China. the Saudi team was trailing 0-2, until Al Thunayan came in from the bench to score the first goal and the third goal in a game that ended 4-3 for theSaudi team. after coming back from the world cup 1998, he helped the Saudi team to capture the gold in the Arab cup in Doha, Qatar. he scored the equalizer against Kuwait in the simi-final from a free kick. the made to assists in the final against Qatar which ended 3-1.

International goals

[3]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 25 February 1986 Khobar, Saudi Arabia  Wales 1–2 Lost Friendly
2 3 October 1986 Seoul, South Korea  Kuwait 2–2 Drew 1986 Asian Games
3 15 March 1989 Jeddah Saudi Arabia  Syria 5–4 Won 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
4 15 October 1992 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  United States 3–0 Won FIFA Confederations Cup
5 29 October 1992 Hiroshima, Japan  China PR 1–1 Drew 1992 AFC Asian Cup
6 2 November 1992 Hiroshima, Japan  Thailand 4–0 Won 1992 AFC Asian Cup
7 29 December 1995 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia  Kazakhstan 3–0 Won Friendly
8 29 December 1995 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia  Kazakhstan 3–0 Won Friendly
9 24 January 1996 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Kyrgyzstan 3–0 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
10 24 January 1996 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Kyrgyzstan 3–0 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
11 28 January 1996 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Yemen 4–0 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
12 28 January 1996 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Yemen 4–0 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
13 31 January 1996 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Kyrgyzstan 2–0 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
14 21 October 1996 Muscat, Oman  Bahrain 3–1 Won 1996 Gulf Cup of Nations
15 16 December 1996 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  China PR 4–3 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup
16 16 December 1996 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  China PR 4–3 Won 1996 AFC Asian Cup
17 14 September 1997 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Kuwait 2–1 Won 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
18 24 June 1998 Bordeaux, France  South Africa 2–2 Drew 1998 FIFA World Cup
19 29 September 1998 Doha, Qatar  Kuwait 2–1 Won 1998 Arab Nations Cup
20 2 November 1998 Manama, Bahrain  Bahrain 1–1 Drew 1998 Gulf Cup of Nations

Honours

Club

International

Individual

Farewell match

2005-12-14
18:00 GMT
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia 2–1 Spain Valencia
Al-Qahtani  30'
Al-Jumaan  69'		 Regueiro  80'
King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh
Attendance: more than 65,000

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ciberche.net/histoche/partidos/5?mid=4110
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 15, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  3. ↑ Roberto Mamrud & Naim Albakr. "Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
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