Al Nassr FC
| logo | ||||
| Full name | Al-Nassr Sports, Cultural, and Social Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Global Club (العالمي) Najd's Knight (فارس نجد) | |||
| Founded | 1955 | |||
| Ground | King Fahd Stadium, Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh | |||
| Capacity | 67,000/27,000 | |||
| Chairman |  Prince Faisal Bin Turkey | |||
| Manager |  Walter Zenga | |||
| League | Saudi Premier League | |||
| 2009-10 | 3rd | |||
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Al-Nassr (Arabic: Victory النصر) is one of the premier football clubs in Saudi Arabia located at the Saudi Capital (Riyadh). It has produced some of Saudi Arabia's brightest stars such as Majed Abdullah, Fahd Al-Herafy and Mohaisn Al-Jam'aan. The club is well known throughout the Middle East and Asia.
Foundation
Al-Nassr was established in 1955 by the brothers Husein and Zeid Al-Ja'ba. At the beginning, Al-Ja'ba Brothers have used their own house at "Al-Ataif Street" to be the club's first site. The training took place in the old playground at "Gashlat Al-Shortah" west of "Al-Fotah Garden" where there was a small football field and a small room to store balls and shirts. In addition to Al-Ja'ba Brothers, Ali and Issa Al-Owais were among the first workers at the club.
The early stages
The club operated unofficially as an amateur club until 1960 when it was registered officially with the General Presidency of Youth Welfare. It was at this time that Prince Abdulrahman Bin Saud became head of Al-Nassr. Al-Nassr started in the second division of the league. They officially got promoted to the first division in 1963. Al-Nassr remained as a middle class club all the way until the 70's.
Beginning of glory
The 70's was the beginning of Al-Nassr as a real champion. During the 70's and 80's, the club has won 4 Saudi league titles, 6 King Cups, 2 Crown Prince Cups and 1 Federation Cup. The main reason for such success was the shine of new generation of talented players. Among them : Mohammed Saad Al-Abdaly, Mabrok Al-Turki, Tawfiq Al-Meqren, Salim Marwan, Yousif Khamis, plus the Saudi Golden Trio, Majed Abdullah, Fahd Al-Herafy, and Mohaisn Al-Jam'aan.
The Golden Era
In the 90's, Al-Nassr went on to move from a local champion to a regional and continental one. In addition to 2 Saudi League titles, 1 King Cup and 1 Federation Cup, Al-Nassr has won 2 Gulf Club Champions Cup, 1 Asian Cup Winners Cup and 1 Asian Super Cup and Al-Nassr represented Asia in the first Clubs World Cup in Brazil in 2000
FIFA Club World Cup Memories
Winning the Asian Super Cup in 1998 Al-Nassr been candidates by drawing lots and participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. In doing so they became the first team to represent Asia in this big event which was held in Brazil in the period 5-14 January 2000. The nickname ( The Global Club ) was obtained following their participation in this worldwide event.
Al-Nassr received The FIFA Fair play award following the Club World Cup and were the first team in the world to have such an award.
Al-Nassr were drawn in Group A along with Corinthians (tournament champion), Real Madrid and Raja Casablanca.
Al-Nassr Results
Real Madrid  | 3 – 1 | Al Nassr |
|---|---|---|
Anelka  21'Raúl 62'Sávio 69' (pen.) |
(Report) | Al Husseini 45' (pen.) |
Raja Casablanca  | 3 – 4 | Al Nassr |
|---|---|---|
| Nejjary 13' El Moubarki 81'El Karkouri 87' |
(Report) | Amin 3' Bahja 48'Al-Husseini 50'Saïb 87' |
| Al Nassr | 0 – 2 |  Corinthians |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Ricardinho 24' Rincón 81' |
Group A Standing
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corinthians
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 |
| Real Madrid
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 |
| Al-Nassr
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 3 |
| Raja Casablanca
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 0 |
Al-Nassr Squad
| Number | Player | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||
| 1 |
|
Madhi Al-Dosari | |||
| 22 |
|
Mohammed Al-Khojali | |||
| 9 |
|
Mohamed Shareefy | |||
| Defenders | |||||
| 2 |
|
Nasser Al Halwi | |||
| 5 |
|
Smahi Triki | |||
| 4 |
|
Saleh Aboshahin | |||
| 12 |
|
Hamad Al-Kathran | |||
| 16 |
|
Abdulaziz Al-Janoubi | |||
| 20 |
|
Mohsin Harthi | |||
| 21 |
|
Hadi Sharifi | |||
| 23 |
|
Ibrahim Al-Shokia | |||
| Midfielders | |||||
| 3 |
|
Faisal Al-Dosari | |||
| 6 |
|
Ibrahim Al-Harbi | |||
| 8 |
|
Fahd Al-Herafy | |||
| 10 |
|
Fuad Amin | |||
| 14 |
|
Nassip Al-Ghamdi | |||
| 17 |
|
Mansour Al-Mousa | |||
| 18 |
|
Abdullah Al-Karni | |||
| Forwards | |||||
| 7 |
|
Fahad Al-Mehallel | |||
| 11 |
|
Mohaisn Al-Jam'aan | |||
| 13 |
|
Ahmed Bahja | |||
| 15 |
|
Nahar Al-Dhaferi | |||
| 19 | 
|
Moussa Saïb | |||
| Manager | |||||
| - | 
|
Milan Živadinović | |||
The decline
Recently, Al-Nassr faced a serious financial and lack of talents problems. Such problems hit the club seriously. However, Al-Nassr was qualified to the World Cup in 2000 and has been qualified to 4 Finals in 2001. In addition, Al-Nassr won Damascus International Cup in 2004.
The club today
After a very negative season in 2006-2007, where the club was almost relegated before managing a last day survival, the club's management made a major squad elimination and promoting the club's youth players plus attracting 3 influential foreign players. That policy paid dividends almost immediately. After 4 years trophy drought, Al-Nassr won the Federation Cup 2008 against city rivals, Al-Hilal, and beat Real Madrid 4-1 in an exciting match in King Fahad International Stadium in Riyadh. In the 2009-10 league season, having had an excellent second half to the season, winning successive games, the club clinched 3rd place in the league table, securing Asian Champions League football next season, signalling the start of a new era for the football club which promises to be a glorious one.
Name, Logo and Colors
Al-Nassr is the Arabic word for "victory".[1] Such a name is very appropriate for a sports club, therefore the name is popular among many Arab countries, not only Saudi Arabia. Clubs with the same name could be found in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Libya, and Algeria But the Saudi Arabian club was the first to name the team Alnassr.
The Club's logo represents the map of Saudi Arabia with yellow and blue colors. Yellow for the gorgeous sand in the Saudi deserts, and blue for the magnificent water in the Saudi seas. Recently the old logo has been replaced by a "more modern version", but still is heavily influenced by the old club logo. The new Logo only represent the Football team while the old logo represent the Club as a whole.
Sponsorship
Official sponsor
In a press conference on Jun 19, 2008, Vice President of the club, Prince Al-Waleed bin Bader bin Saud and Saud Bin Majed Al Daweesh, Saudi Telecommunications President, announced that STC will sponsor Al-Nassr’s football team for 5 seasons. The STC logo can also be spotted on Al-Ittihad's kit.
Kit providers
- Since 2007/08: Lotto.
Current first team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable former players
Asia
Majed Abdullah- Fahd Al-Herafy
- Mohaisn Al-Jam'aan
- Abdullah Bin Salleh
- Nasser Al-Johar
- Yousef Khamis
- Salim Marwan
- Salih Al-Mutlaq
- Saud Al-Hemali
Mark Bresciano
Europe
Central America
South America
Denílson- Marcelinho Carioca
- Élton José Xavier Gomes
Julio César Baldivieso
Otilino Tenorio (†)- Carlos Tenorio
Africa
Smahi Triki- Hicham Aboucherouane
- Ahmed Bahja
Emad El-Nahhas
Moussa Saïb
Youssouf Falikou Fofana
Ohene Kennedy
Razak Omotoyossi
Ang Victor- Nii Lamptey
Former coaches
Don Revie- Mário Zagallo
- Joel Santana
Ilie Balaci- Mircea Rednic
Henri Michel- Jean Fernandez
Artur Jorge
Milan Živadinović- Ljubiša Broćić
- Ljubiša Tumbaković
Foeke Booy
Julio Asad
Rodion Gačanin- Edgardo Bauza
Jorge da Silva
Walter Zenga
Presidential history
| No | Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mr. Zeid Al-Ja'ba
|
1955 | 1956 |
| 2 | Mr. Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed
|
1956 | 1960 |
| 3 | Mr. Mohammed Asaad Al-Wehaibi
|
1960 | 1960 |
| 4 | Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Odaini
|
1960 | 1960 |
| 5 | Prince Abdulrahman Bin Saud
|
1960 | 1969 |
| 6 | Prince Sultan Bin Saud
|
1969 | 1975 |
| 7 | Prince Abdulrahman Bin Saud
|
1975 | 1997 |
| 8 | Prince Faisal Bin Abdulrahman Bin Saud
|
1997 | 2000 |
| 9 | Prince Abdulrahman Bin Saud
|
2000 | 2005 |
| 10 | Prince Mamdoh Bin Abdulrahman Bin Saud
|
2005 | 2006 |
| 11 | Prince Faisal Bin Abdulrahman Bin Saud
|
2006 | 2009 |
| 12 | Prince Faisal Bin Turki Bin Nasser
|
2009 | -- |
Club's Champions and Honors
National titles
International titles
International Award
Achievements
Friendly Tournaments
Al-Nassr Club TV
Al-Nassr signed a contract with ART to re-launch the official channel. A contract that would make the club earns SAR 5 million annually. A subscription fee of SAR 40 to be monthly paid for potential subscribers.
References
- ^ http://translate.google.com/#ar%7Cen%7C%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%B1 - The word Al-Nasr translated by Google Translate.
