Sameer Hilal

Sameer Hilal (Arabic: سمير هلال‎; born 1967) is a Saudi Arabian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Khaleej.[1]

Born in Dammam, Hilal began his senior career at Al-Ettifaq in 1987 and spent 15 years at the club, winning 4 major titles with the club.[2] He moved to Al-Khaleej in 2001 where he spent a season before retiring.[3]

After retiring, Hilal was appointed as an assistant coach at Al-Khaleej in 2007. In 2009, he was appointed as a caretaker manager following the sacking of Samir Sellimi.[4] Hilal then returned to Al-Ettifaq as an assistant manager, a position he held for three seasons. On 28 May 2013, Hilal was appointed as the manager of Al-Khaleej and led the club to promotion to the Pro League, after finishing as runner-up in the First Division.[5] The following season, Hilal was appointed as the manager of Al-Nahda.[6] He was sacked the following season after picking up just 2 points in the opening four matches.[7] On 9 March 2016, Hilal was appointed as the manager of Al-Orobah until the end of the season.[8] On 7 August 2016, Hilal was appointed as the manager of Hajer, but he was sacked after four months.[9][10] On 29 May 2018, Hilal was appointed as Al-Khaleej's manager for the third time.[11] They narrowly missed out on promotion after losing the play-offs to Al-Hazem on penalties. On 23 September 2020, Hilal returned to Al-Khaleej for the fourth time as a manager.[12]