AMSTERDAM: Scoring goals is arguably the hardest task in football, but for new Aberdeen signing and Palestine international Oday Dabbagh that has been the easy part.
His first professional goal came at his hometown club Hilal Al-Quds three weeks after he turned 17. Nine years later, Dabbagh’s performances have landed him a spot in the Scottish Premiership via Kuwait, Portugal and Belgium.
A difficult six months saw Dabbagh limited to an average of 32 minutes across 15 league appearances for Charleroi this season. When he netted his first goal of the campaign against Standard Liege in November he earned a point for his club and the ire of his own fans after making a shushing gesture towards them.
In the aftermath, Palestine’s all-time leading scorer was limited to just 36 minutes in four appearances and shortly after all parties agreed that a change of scenery would be best.
The loan to Aberdeen, engineered in the last days of the winter transfer window, comes with an option to buy in the region of $1m that can be triggered at the end of the season. The forward’s exploits were well known to the club’s head of recruitment, Nuno de Almeida, who was at Rio Ave and watched the then-unknown Palestinian’s goals lift Arouca from the relegation zone to Europe in just two seasons.
Commenting on his move to the Scottish Premiership, Dabbagh said: “I am very happy to be joining AFC and look forward to meeting my teammates, the coaches and people around the club. I am looking forward to the challenge and I am hopeful I will repay the trust everyone has shown in me with good performances for the team.”
The 26-year-old has faced plenty of adversity since leaving Hilal Al-Quds in 2019. A turbulent first year abroad in Kuwait saw him suffer a broken collarbone, contract COVID-19 and play for three different clubs. The scar tissue from that time laid the foundation for success as his sophomore campaign saw him lead Al-Arabi to their first league title in two decades. His parent club, Al-Qadsia, could only watch as a player they deemed surplus to requirements mere months earlier won the competition’s Golden Boot.
Dabbagh’s resilience was further tested in Arouca when visa issues caused his debut to be delayed by several weeks. It made little difference, with the player finding the net on his third appearance for the club after just 34 minutes on the pitch. A haul of four goals and an assist in his first season netted four points for the club, which escaped the relegation playoffs by a meager two points.
In his second year at Arouca, a contractual dispute hampered an otherwise fine season that concluded with 11 goals in 21 appearances across all competitions. Dabbagh signed a pre-contract with Charleroi in February 2023 and was promptly frozen out of Arouca’s squad.
Dabbagh’s response was once again emphatic. He enjoyed his best spell with Charleroi early in the 2023/24 season, with five goal involvements over the first 10 match days.
Aberdeen FC supporters will hope lightning can strike twice. Dabbagh leaves Charleroi feeling hard done by the club’s decisions over the last year; he had not envisioned a substitute’s role after finishing the previous season as the club’s top scorer.
On paper, the move to Aberdeen is a match made in heaven. The player needs minutes and the club needs goals, scoring just one in their last eight Scottish Premiership matches. The Dons have been in a malaise stretching back to last November, wasting a near-perfect start to their season — they collected 31/33 points in their first 11 matches.
“Oday is a clinical finisher who has an exceptional work ethic and his combative qualities will be a real asset for us,” Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin told the club’s official website.
“He has a strong personality both on and off the pitch and we believe he will be a positive addition, adding another dimension to our attacking options as we work to get back to winning ways.”
In spite of his struggles at Charleroi, Dabbagh has achieved a lot in the past 14 months. Dabbagh joined elite company in 2023, becoming only the 10th Asian player to score more than 100 goals for club and country before turning 25. The list of luminaries features Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia), Abdul Kadir (Indonesia), Majed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia), Cha Bum-Kun (South Korea), Fandi Ahmad (Singapore), Bader Al-Mutawa, Bashar Abdullah (both Kuwait), Ali Mabkhout (UAE) and Omar Al-Somah (Syria).
Dabbagh could debut for Aberdeen at Dundee United on Saturday, when a good start will send expectations soaring.
Six goals for Palestine in 2024 helped propel the team to new heights at the Asian Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. If Dabbagh can get the game time he craves at Aberdeen in 2025, it could result in a return to form and trouble for Palestine’s Group B rivals.
