Saeed Al-Owairan Explained

Saeed Al--Owairan
Full Name:	Saeed Ali Al Owairan Al Dossari
Birth Date:	19 August 1967
Birth Place:	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height:	1.84 m
Position:	Striker
Years1:	1988–2001
Clubs1:	Al-Shabab
Nationalyears1:	1991–1998
Nationalteam1:	Saudi Arabia
Nationalcaps1:	75
Nationalgoals1:	24

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,^[1] 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.

Career

Owairan spent his entire club career at Al-Shabab, a Saudi club based in Riyadh.

He won 85 caps for the Saudi Arabia national team, scoring 34 goals, including seven in 1994 World Cup Qualifiers. 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.^[2] The goal sent Saudi Arabia through to the second round of the World Cup for the first time. They subsequently lost 3–1 to Sweden in the Round of 16.

Following the World Cup, Owairan returned to Saudi Arabia. The same year he was named as Asian Footballer of the Year.^[3] Despite interest from European clubs, he was unable to leave the country due to a national law preventing Saudi footballers from playing abroad.^[4] 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.

Club career stats

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		3		4
	1993–94											4
	1994–95									1				1
	1995–96
	1996–97									1
	1997–98
	1998–99			11
	1999–2000			4						4
	2000–01			2
Career total			!60				10		10		8		5

Honours

Al-Shabab

• Arab Club Champions Cup

1992,^[5] 1999^[6]

• Saudi Premier League :1990–91,^[7] 1991–92,^[8] 1992–93^[9]
• Asian Cup Winners' Cup

2000–01^[10]

Saudi Arabia

• Arab Nations Cup runner-up:1992^[11]
• King Fahd Cup runner-up:1992^[12]
• AFC Asian Cup runner-up:1992^[13]

Individual

• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer

1993

• Best Bombardier Saudi Premier League:1991–92^[8]

Notes and References

1. News: The greatest Asian footballer of all time - ranked . 2023-04-30 . . 11 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221211075953/https://www.90min.com/posts/the-greatest-asian-footballers-of-all-time-ranked . live .
2. News: Diego Maradona goal voted the FIFA World Cup Goal of the Century. https://web.archive.org/web/20080930212802/http://www.fifa.com/newscentre/news/newsid=82406.html. dead. 30 September 2008. 2018-03-15. FIFA.
3. Web site: Asian Player of the Year. 2018-03-15. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 12 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140819/http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/as-poy.html. live.
4. Web site: World Cup's Greatest Goals: Saeed Al-Owairan (1994, SAUDI ARABIA vs. Belgium). 2018-03-15. espnfc.com. 24 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190724234407/http://www.espnfc.com/blog/world-cup-central/59/post/1845113/greatest-world-cup-goals-saeed-al-owairan-1994saudi-arabia-belgium. live.
5. Web site: 8th Arab Club Champions Cup 1992. 2 February 2023. 12 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220812060126/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/arabchamp92.html. live.
6. Web site: 15th Arab Club Champions Cup 1999. 2 February 2023. 6 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221006133545/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/arabchamp99.html. live.
7. Web site: Saudi Arabia 1990/91. 2 February 2023. 6 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221206234302/https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sau91.html. live.
8. Web site: Saudi Arabia 1991/92. 2 February 2023. 1 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230101034105/https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sau92.html. live.
9. Web site: Saudi Arabia 1992/93. 2 February 2023. 1 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230101034107/https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sau93.html. live.
10. Web site: Asian Club Competitions 2000/01. 2 February 2023. 17 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220817114021/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/ascup01.html. live.
11. Web site: Arab Cup. 2 February 2023. 2 September 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230902222045/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/arabcup.html. live.
12. Web site: Intercontinental Champions Cup Saudi Arabia 1992 - Argentina 3:1 (2:0) Saudi Arabia - Overview . www.fifa.com . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150912070805/http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/confederationscup/saudiarabia1992/matches/round%3D4300/match%3D21304/index.html . 12 September 2015 . dead.
13. Web site: Japan - Saudi-Arabien 1:0 (Asian Cup 1992 Japan, Finale). 7 September 2019. 17 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190917180551/https://www.weltfussball.de/spielbericht/asian-cup-1992-in-japan-endspiel-japan-saudi-arabien/. live.