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 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Winger / Attacking Midfielder
Youth career
1981–1983 Al-Hilal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–2003 Al-Hilal 350 (98)
International career
1986–1998 Saudi Arabia 81 (20)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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. A playmaker known for vision and technique, Al-Thunayyan was nicknamed "The Philosopher" for his dribbling, goal scoring, and playmaking skills. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Saudi and Asian 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] Particular highlights are Asian Club Championship 1991 Winner and Asian Club Championship 1999-2000 Winner.

International career

During his active career, Al-Thunayan played 95 international matches and scored 33 goals for the Saudi Arabia 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] Yousuf represented Saudi Arabia in 3 consecutive AFC Asian Cup finals in 1988, 1992 and 1996, winning two out of these three.

1988 AFC Asian Cup (Qatar)

Yousuf took over the starting forward role mid way thru the tournament coached by Carlos Alberto Parreira.[3] He played vs Bahrain in Group stages which tied 1-1.[4] He also played the important game vs China which Saudi Arabia won 1–0.[5] He played the Semi Finals vs Iran which Saudi Arabia won 1–0.[6] He also played in the Final vs South Korea which Saudi Arabia won on penalties.[7]

1992 AFC Asian Cup (Japan)

He scored the goal in a stage game vs China which Saudis tied 1-1.[8] He also played the group stage game vs Qatar which Saudis again tied 1-1.[9] In the final group stage game, Yousuf scored a goal in a 4–0 rout of Thailand.[10] Yousuf led the team to defeat UAE 2–0 in Semi Finals.[11] Yousuf played whole Final game in which Saudi Arabia lost to Japan.[12]

1992 King Fahd Cup, later known as FIFA Confederations Cup

The confederation cup was the last stop prior to Asian World Cup qualifiers. Saudi Arabia beat USA 3–0, with Yousuf scoring a goal.[13]

1996 AFC Asian Cup (UAE)

Yousuf was on bench but was substituted in during the game against Iran, where Saudi Arabia lost 3–0.[14] A Quarter finals game against China started badly, with Saudi Arabia down 2–0. Yousuf scored a goal and made an assist and in end Saudi Arabia won the game 4–2.[15] In the Semi Finals game vs Iran, Saudi Arabia won the match on PK 4–3.[16] Saudi Arabia won 4–2 against UAE, the host nation, with Yousuf playing the whole game and scoring a critical first penalty shot.[17] This was a second continental Asian Cup for Yousuf and a third for Saudi Arabia.

1998 Arab Cup

Yousuf scored in the Semi Finals game 2–1 against Kuwait. In the Final game vs Qatar, he made an assist to clinch the title for Saudi Arabia.[18]

1998 World Cup

As Saudi Arabia failed to qualify for the 1986 and 1990 world cup, Yousuf had only one chance to play on the World Cup near the end of his peak. He appeared as a substitute against Denmark where Saudi Arabia Lost 1–0. Yousuf scored a penalty kick to earn Saudi Arabia a 2–2 draw vs South Africa, resulting in the solitary point for Saudi Arabia in 1998 world cup. He captained the team in the game.

International goals

[19]

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
125 February 1986Khobar, Saudi Arabia Wales1–2LostFriendly
23 October 1986Seoul, South Korea Kuwait2–2Drew1986 Asian Games
315 March 1989Jeddah Saudi Arabia Syria5–4Won1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
415 October 1992Riyadh, Saudi Arabia United States3–0WonFIFA Confederations Cup
529 October 1992Hiroshima, Japan China1–1Drew1992 AFC Asian Cup
62 November 1992Hiroshima, Japan Thailand4–0Won1992 AFC Asian Cup
729 December 1995Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Kazakhstan3–0WonFriendly
829 December 1995Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Kazakhstan3–0WonFriendly
924 January 1996Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Kyrgyzstan3–0Won1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1024 January 1996Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Kyrgyzstan3–0Won1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1128 January 1996Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Yemen4–0Won1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1228 January 1996Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Yemen4–0Won1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1331 January 1996Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Kyrgyzstan2–0Won1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1421 October 1996Muscat, Oman Bahrain3–1Won1996 Gulf Cup of Nations
1516 December 1996Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates China4–3Won1996 AFC Asian Cup
1616 December 1996Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates China4–3Won1996 AFC Asian Cup
1714 September 1997Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Kuwait2–1Won1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
1824 June 1998Bordeaux, France South Africa2–2Drew1998 FIFA World Cup
1929 September 1998Doha, Qatar Kuwait2–1Won1998 Arab Nations Cup
202 November 1998Manama, Bahrain Bahrain1–1Drew1998 Gulf Cup of Nations

Honours

Club

International

Individual

Farewell match

Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia2–1Spain Valencia
Al-Qahtani 30'
Al-Jumaan 69'		 Regueiro 80'
Attendance: more than 65,000

References

  1. ↑ "14.12.2005: Al Hilal 2 - 1 Valencia CF". www.ciberche.net. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11.
  2. ↑ "FIFA.com - 1998 FIFA World Cup France ™". Archived from the original on June 15, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Carlos Alberto Parreira". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  4. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - Bahrain 1:1 (Asian Cup 1988 Katar, Gruppe 2)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  5. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - China 1:0 (Asian Cup 1988 Katar, Gruppe 2)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  6. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - Iran 1:0 (Asian Cup 1988 Katar, Halbfinale)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  7. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - Südkorea 4:3 (Asian Cup 1988 Katar, Finale)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  8. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - China 1:1 (Asian Cup 1992 Japan, Gruppe 2)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  9. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - Katar 1:1 (Asian Cup 1992 Japan, Gruppe 2)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  10. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - Thailand 4:0 (Asian Cup 1992 Japan, Gruppe 2)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  11. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - VA Emirate 2:0 (Asian Cup 1992 Japan, Halbfinale)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  12. ↑ "Japan - Saudi-Arabien 1:0 (Asian Cup 1992 Japan, Finale)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  13. ↑ "Intercontinental Champions Cup Saudi Arabia 1992 - USA 0:3 (0:0) Saudi Arabia - Overview - FIFA.com". 2015-09-13. Archived from the original on 2015-09-13. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  14. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - Iran 0:3 (Asian Cup 1996 VA Emirate, Gruppe B)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  15. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - China 4:3 (Asian Cup 1996 VA Emirate, Viertelfinale)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  16. ↑ "Iran - Saudi-Arabien 3:4 (Asian Cup 1996 VA Emirate, Halbfinale)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  17. ↑ "Saudi-Arabien - VA Emirate 4:2 (Asian Cup 1996 VA Emirate, Finale)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  18. ↑ "1998 Arab Nations Cup", Wikipedia, 2019-07-25, retrieved 2019-12-04
  19. ↑ Roberto Mamrud & Naim Albakr. "Sami Abdullah Al-Jaber - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
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