Mohamed Al-Deayea

Mohamed Abdullaziz Al-Deayea Al-Shammari (Arabic: مُحَمَّد عَبْد الْعَزِيز الدَّعْيَع الشَّمَّرِيّ; born 2 August 1972), also known as Mohammed Deayea al-Shammari, is a Saudi Arabian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He participated in four FIFA World Cups for the Saudi Arabia national team and earned a total of 173 officially recognised caps. Al-Deayea played for al-Tai FC and al-Hilal SFC and was represented in all Saudi national teams. He is considered one of the prominent goalkeepers in the history of Saudi sports.^[2]

Mohamed Al-Deayea

Al-Deayea with Al-Hilal in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Mohamed Abdullaziz Al-Deayea Al-Shammari
Date of birth	(1972-08-02) 2 August 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1986-1989	Al-Ta'ee
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1999	Al-Ta'ee	176	(0)
1999–2010	Al-Hilal	230	(0)
Total		406	(0)
International career
1993–2006	Saudi Arabia	178[1]	(0)
Medal record Representing  Saudi Arabia Men's football AFC Asian Cup Winner 1996 United Arab Emirates Runner-up 2000 Lebanon FIFA U-17 World Cup Winner 1989 Scotland
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life and club career

Mohammed al-Deayea was born in Hail into a family passionate about sports. He initially started as a handball goalkeeper for al-Tai FC at eight years old but switched to football following a recommendation from the club's junior football coach. He joined al-Tai SFC's junior team in 1988, impressing enough to earn a spot on the Saudi junior national team. With this team, he triumphed at the FIFA U-16 World Championship in Scotland in 1989. He progressed to the youth national team and by 1993, he was playing for the senior Saudi national team.

Al-Deayea played a pivotal role in the national team's qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, where he excelled. In 1999, al-Hilal SFC acquired him in a high-profile transfer, and he defended their goal until retiring in 2010, capping a twenty-two-year career. A testimonial match was organized in 2012 to honor his contributions, featuring a game between Italy's Juventus and al-Hilal SFC.^[3]

Al-Deayea has split his professional career between the clubs Al-Ta'ee and Al-Hilal. Originally, he started as a handball player, but was convinced by his club and his older brother Abdullah to become a professional footballer. Mohammed was under great pressure of expectations in the beginning of his career because his brother Abdullah was an AFC Asian Cup winner and a highly reputed goalkeeper.

Retirement

On 22 June 2010, Mohamed Al-Deayea announced his retirement from football at the age of 37. On 5 January 2012, a testimonial match for him was organised between his club Al-Hilal and Juventus, with 70,000 people attending at the King Fahd Stadium. The match ended 7–1 in favour of Juventus with Al-Hilal's sole goal coming from Saad Al-Harthi. Juventus' goals were scored by Alessandro Del Piero (twice), Eljero Elia, Arturo Vidal, Giorgio Chiellini, Simone Pepe and Fabio Quagliarella.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League		Cup		ACL		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Al-Ta'ee	1991–92	22	0	—		—		22	0
	1992–93	22	0	—		—		22	0
	1993–94	22	0	—		—		22	0
	1994–95	22	0	—		—		22	0
	1995–96	22	0	—		—		22	0
	1996–97	22	0	—		—		22	0
	1997–98	22	0	—		—		22	0
	1998–99	22	0	—		—		22	0
	Total	176	0	0	0	0	0	176	0
Al-Hilal	1999–00	22	0	4	0	7	0	33	0
	2000–01	22	0	2	0	—		24	0
	2001–02	22	0	—		5	0	27	0
	2002–03	22	0	4	0	—		26	0
	2003–04	22	0	4	0	3	0	29	0
	2004–05	22	0	5	0	4	0	31	0
	2005–06	22	0	5	0	—		27	0
	2006–07	21	0	4	0	6	0	31	0
	2007–08	21	0	5	0	6	0	32	0
	2008–09	21	0	4	0	7	0	32	0
	2009–10	20	0	1	0	4	0	25	0
	Total	230	0	38	0	39	0	306	0
Career total		413	0	38	0	39	0	489	0

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[4]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Saudi Arabia	1993	16	0
	1994	21	0
	1995	6	0
	1996	21	0
	1997	23	0
	1998	22	0
	1999	15	0
	2000	15	0
	2001	12	0
	2002	13	0
	2003	0	0
	2004	4	0
	2005	0	0
	2006	7	0
Total		177[1]	0

Honours

Al-Ta'ee

• Saudi First Division: 1994–95

Al-Hilal

• Saudi Premier League: 2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10
• Saudi Crown Prince Cup: 1999–2000, 2003, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
• Saudi Founder's Cup: 1999–2000
• AFC Champions League: 1999–2000
• Asian Cup Winners Cup: 2001–02
• Asian Super Cup: 2000
• Arab Cup Winners' Cup: 2000
• Arab Super Cup: 2001

Saudi Arabia U17

• FIFA U-17 World Cup: 1989

Saudi Arabia

• AFC Asian Cup: 1996
• Arabian Gulf Cup: 1994, 2003
• Arab Nations Cup: 1998
• Islamic Solidarity Games: 2005

Individual

• Best Goalkeeper of the AFC Asian Cup: 1996, 2000
• Best Goalkeeper of the Arabian Gulf Cup: 1998, 2002
• Best Goalkeeper of the GCC Champions League: 2000
• Best Goalkeeper of the Arab Champions League': 2001
• Best Goalkeeper of the Asian Cup Winners Cup: 2002
• He was voted Asia's Goalkeeper of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 1999.^[5]
• AFC Asian All Stars: 2000^[6]
• AFC Fans' All-time XI at the FIFA World Cup: 2020^[7]
• IFFHS Asian Men's Team of All Time: 2021^[8]
• AFC Asian Cup All-time XI: 2023^[9]

See also

• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps