Hani Al-Dhabit Faraj Bait Al-Noobi (Arabic: هاني الضابط فرج بيت النوبي; born 15 October 1979), commonly known as Hani Al-Dhabit, is an Omani former professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.[1] He also played for the Oman national team.
Club career
Hani Al-Dhabit is a long-time veteran of the most successful sports club in Oman, Dhofar S.C.S.C. and was in the squad for over 10 years. He was the captain of Dhofar and wore the number 14 jersey, as he had previously worn throughout his career with the national team.
He also played for various clubs in GCC; for example Baniyas SC of theUnited Arab Emirates, Al Sadd SC of Qatar, and Al Jahra SC of Kuwait.
International career
He played for the Oman national football team from 1998 to 2008 and was the captain of the team in 2002 and 2003. His most successful season for the national team was during 2001–02, and he was the world's leading goalscorer in international matches in 2001.[2]
In the 14th Arabian Gulf Cup in 1998, despite his young age, he scored a goal in a 2–2 draw against Bahrain. In the tournament, Oman finished at the fourth place with four points from one win and one draw.[3]
He first showed his talent during the 15th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2002 scoring five goals, a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over the powerhouse 9-time competition winners, a goal in a 1–2 loss against Qatar and another in a 1–1 draw against Bahrain. At the end of the competition, he was awarded the "Top Goal Scorer" award.[4] In the tournament, Oman finished at the fifth place with four points from one win and one draw.[5]
Although not being successful in scoring any goals in both the 16th Arabian Gulf Cup and the 17th Arabian Gulf Cup, he still made many appearances and was handed the captain's band once again in the 16th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2003–04.[6] This time Al-Dhabit led Oman to its most successful position ever yet in the Arabian Gulf Cup competition, reaching the final four round for the first time with eight points from two wins and two draws.
During the 17th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2004, he was not assigned captaincy by Czech coach Milan Macala. He was featured widely as a substitute, but still received an adequate amount of playing time, and scored a goal in the penalty-kick shootout during the final in which Oman lost to the hosts Qatar in a penalty shootout after the goalkeeping sensation Ali Al-Habsi missed a penalty. Qatar won the match 6–5 on penalties after the match had ended 1–1 at the normal time. Amad Al-Hosni was awarded the "Top Goal Scorer" award of the competition with a total of four goals.[7][8]
AFC Asian Cup qualification
Al-Dhabit scored five goals in the qualification for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup,[9] one in a 7–0 win over Nepal,[10] a brace in a 6–0 win over Vietnam,[11] other in a 3–1 win over South Korea[12] and another in a 2–0 win over Vietnam[13] hence helping his team to qualify for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup. In the tournament, Oman won four points in a 2–0 win over Thailand[14] and a 2–2 draw against Iran[15] and hence failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.[16]
He scored eleven goals in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification,[17] five goals in a 12–0 win over Laos,[18] a brace in the return leg in a 7–0 win over Laos,[19] a brace in a 7–0 win over Philippines[20] and another in a 2–2 draw against the United Arab Emirates.[21] During the qualifications, Oman had scored some of the most goals in the shortest period of time, with the largest margin wins in the team's history. Many of the goals were scored by Al-Dhabit.
After eventually being knocked out of qualification, Al-Dhabit had scored a total of 11 goals in 4 matches out of the 12 matches Oman had played. In one match, he was on the brink of a double hat-trick but unfortunately he couldn't. At the end of the year, he was awarded the 2001 Top Goal Scorer Award with a total of 22 international goals,[22] beating Spain's Raúl, England's Michael Owen, and Portugal's Luís Figo, becoming the first Omani and only third Arab, to win the title.
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
