Muhammad Al-Khelaiwi.. The march of the Al-Ittihad legend and the master of the Saudi stadiums
One of the most prominent defenders of the Saudi national team, who has a strong imprint in achieving achievements, in addition to his personal obtaining of individual titles, the title of professor, and he ranked eighth among the list of players who most participated with their national teams with 141 matches (during 11 years), participated in two versions of the World Cup, and was a pillar Essential in the team achieving the 1994 Gulf Cup and the 1998 Arab Cup.
He is the late Saudi star, Muhammad Saleh Muhaimid Al-Khelaiwi, who was born in May 1971 in the city of Jeddah, and began his sports career in the Saudi club Al-Ittihad at a young age, and graduated until he reached the first team in 1989, and since then he has been able to reserve a place for himself among the adults, especially since he formed a great duo With the right back, Ahmed Jamil, he achieved 12 championships with Al-Ittihad, and 3 with the national team.
In 1991, he participated for the first time in the Saudi Crown Prince Cup, where the final match brought together Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr, and ended with Al-Ittihad winning by a penalty shootout 5/4 which resulted in Saudi Arabia achieving the second place.
In the 1996-1997 season, he contributed to Al-Ittihad winning the Saudi Premier League championship, and the club won the championship in the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons, respectively.
He starred in 1997 in the Crown Prince Cup and Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cup, which Al-Ittihad achieved with merit, and he also helped crown Al-Ittihad a champion in the Gulf Cup for Clubs in 1999.
In 2001, the Egyptian-Saudi Super Cup was launched and he participated with Al-Ittihad against Al-Ahly of Egypt, and the match ended with Al-Ittihad winning 3/2, in addition to his contribution for the third time to Al-Ittihad winning the Saudi Crown Prince Cup. In 1994 he played an important role in qualifying the Saudi team for the World Cup in the United States of America, followed by his participation in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, during which he scored a goal against Australia, and he also participated in the 1998 World Cup in France, but he was expelled in the France match in the third group matches, and his international career continued and he was supposed to participate in the 2002 World Cup, but he was exposed to an injury which prevented him from participating.
Al-Khelaiwi continued with Al-Ittihad until 2003, when he announced in September that he had moved to Al-Ahly Club, with which he played for only two seasons, and decided at the beginning of 2006 to move to Uhud Club, which did not last with him for a long time, and in 2009 he announced his retirement at the age of 37.
On June 12, 2013, Muhammad Al-Khelaiwi died at Al-Salam Hospital in Jeddah after suffering a sudden heart attack at the age of 42.