Abdul Rahman Saeed.. the jewel of the West Coast, the dean of Yemen players

Yemeni football did not prove a dominant presence at the regional and international levels, and it did not find many resonant names, but despite that it wrote down the names of players that cannot be forgotten, who did not achieve continental championships, but they etched their names with letters of light in the memory of Yemeni football.

Perhaps one of the most prominent of these names, the jewel of the West Coast and its giant, the dean of Yemeni players throughout the ages, who has won the love of the Yemeni fans, and was classified as one of the most creative, entertaining and present players that Yemen’s stadiums have produced, and whose performance has never fluctuated throughout his football career, and his production did not fail to preserve the pages of his record spotless white.

He is the left-back of the Yemeni national team, Abdul Rahman Saeed Abdullah, who was born in 1969, and his beginning came very early, when he joined the Qadisiyah team, one of the popular neighborhood teams in Hodeidah, when the Sudanese coach Youssef Al-Jilani discovered him, then he joined the Al-Jeel Club in Al-Hodeidah by Abdul Rahim Hamid, the player of Al-Jeel, but he did not complete the registration procedures with the club, where he was chosen by the Almighty coach Muqbil Al-Silwi, who followed him during the school league, and he was a student in the third preparatory grade at Abi Bakr Al-Siddiq School in Al-Hodeidah.

In 1984 he joined Ahly Al-Hodeidah and played in it’s ranks until 1998, then he moved to Al-Ahly Sana’a 1999-2001, and he had two opportunities for external professionalism, the first with the Qatari Rayyan 1992/1993, and the second with the Sudanese Al-Merrikh in 1996, but it was not completed due to the refusal of the management of the people of Al-Hodeidah to let him go on the pretext that the club needed him.

The Dean of Yemen players has achieved several local championships and titles. With the people of Hodeidah, he achieved promotion to the first degree 1985 – 1986 AD, third place in the league 1986 AD, third place in the league 1987 AD, the Republic Cup champion 1987, third place in the league 1996 AD, the President’s Cup champion 1996 AD, and he won the title of the ideal player in the league 1996-1997.

He also achieved with the people of Sana’a the league championship in 1998 – 1999, the league championship in 1999 – 2000, the league championship in 2000 – 2001, the President’s Cup champion in 2001, second place in the league championship 2002, he won the title of best player in the league 1999/2000, According to a poll of Al-Thawra newspaper.

At the level of the national teams, he joined the junior national team in the 1987/1988 season, joined the youth team in 1989, and joined the first team in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers. He also played for the Olympic team in 1992, and continued with the first team from 1993 to 2002. The most prominent moment in the life of the West Coast Jewel is that he was the first Yemeni player to participate in 4 World Cup qualifiers, 1990 – 1994 – 1998 – 2002, and participated in 77 international matches.

Al-Zarnouk (relative to the Zaranik tribes in Tihama) achieved many personal titles. He was the ideal player in the league 1996-1997, the best player in the league according to the public referendum of the Abould Festival in Taiz in 1997-1998, and the best player in the four-way tournament for the opening of Al-Olafi Stadium in Hodeidah from Politics and Stadiums newspaper, the best player in 1999, according to the referendum of Al-Thawra newspaper, and among his most prominent achievements is his selection among the honored Gulf stars in Gulf 16 in Kuwait.

In 2003, the brigadier general decided to retire from football and a tribute festival was held for him under the auspices of the Sahelian Crescent Board of Directors, even though he did not play in its ranks.
With the distinguished historical presence of the UAE club Al-Ain with all its stars, which faced in an exhibition match at Ali Mohsen Stadium in Sana’a, a team that included a constellation of stars of Yemen and the Coastal Crescent, and the match ended in favor of Al-Ain UAE 2-1.

The dean went to continue his career with the ball, through training, and began to rehabilitate and refine himself by obtaining certificates and distinguished courses. He participated in many AFC courses, and obtained a C certificate in 2001, a B certificate in 2003, an A certificate in 2013, a diploma from Leipzig Institute in Germany + a certificate from the German Football Association in 2008, a certificate for the lecturers course 2010 and 2011, and the fitness course in 2016.

Among his most prominent training stations in Yemen, he trained the People of Sana’a Club 2007-2008, and Al-Orouba Club in Sana’a in the 2008-2009 season. He also trained Al-Rasheed Club in Taiz 2009-2010, and worked as an assistant coach for Seyoum Kabdah with Al-Tilal Club in Aden in the 2010-2011 season.

On the level of achievements as a coach, he ascended Al Orouba Club to the First Division 2008/2009, and Al Rasheed Club to the First Division 2009/2010.

With the national teams, Abdul Rahman Saeed worked as an assistant coach for the U-17 national team in the World Cup finals in Finland 2003, assistant coach in the Asian Youth Cup qualifiers in Sana’a 2003, assistant coach in the Asian Youth Cup finals in Malaysia 2004, and assistant coach in the Asian Youth Cup qualifiers in the UAE – Dubai 2005, assistant coach of the Olympic team 2005 – 2006, assistant coach of the first team in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Erbil – Al-Ain (2010).

With all that the elegant Joker achieved during a luminous career, as a player and coach, Musk and Amber, as he was called, managed to reserve for himself, with all merit, the most beautiful pages of the Yemeni sports history book.