Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ali Mabkhout has been likened to one of his country’s greatest ever players and, having already broken records for club side Al Jazira, the UAE forward heads into the coming 12 months and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup on home soil with further records in his sights.
A collective cheer could be heard everywhere around Abu Dhabi as the final whistle sounded at Singapore’s Jurong Stadium. It was Saturday afternoon on the 28th of October, 1989, and many Emiratis had opted to stay at home.
Adnan Al Talyani rose highest to head in the equaliser against Korea Republic to take the Whites to their first ever FIFA World Cup. ‘The Prince’ remains arguably the United Arab Emirates’ best footballer of all time.
Twelve months later, there were reminiscent celebrations at one Abu Dhabi household as Ahmed Mabkhout and his family welcomed baby Ali to life. Little did they know, that their new-born would grow to become ‘Little Al Talyani’.
Hundreds of camera flashes went off as the two number 7s made their way side by side onto the pitch at Zayed Sport City Stadium, not far from Ali’s birthplace.
For the recently crowned Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, this was the start of the road towards adding one more medal to his ever-growing cabinet. But it was the home side’s number 7 who is reaching the zenith of his own successful, albeit very different, footballing career.
Ali Mabkhout had scored the only goal of the match against AFC Champions League winners Urawa Red Diamonds to put his boyhood club Al Jazira face-to-face with European giants Real Madrid in the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup. It was a fairytale moment for Mabkhout.
Al Jazira led the European champions for an hour before eventually falling to goals from Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
Mabkhout was a constant menace for Real Madrid defenders and, despite not scoring on the night, he earned special praise from opponents’ manager Zinedine Zidane after the game. “They have two quality players, Mabkhout and Romarinho, who gave our defence a tough test,” said the former World Cup winner.
The Little Prince could well follow in the footsteps of Al Talyani, who spent his entire career at one club. “Al Jazira is where I feel most comfortable, it is my home and I am not thinking about leaving,” says Mabkhout, who came through the youth ranks at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium and has been playing for the first team since 2008.
“I received the ball and immediately hit it into the bottom left corner. I don’t remember which season it was, but I do remember it was against Al Dhafra,” says Mabkhout, trying to recall his first goal in Al Jazira colours.
“I don’t have a great memory. I started documenting my goals, but then I got busy and stopped,” he adds. The goal was in the 2008/09 season.
It is not difficult to see how Mabkhout could forget the details of his goals. Since that strike against Al Dhafra, the 27-year-old has broken all sorts of records as he became his club’s all-time top goal scorer and the UAE Pro League’s record scorer with an impressive 107 goals in 161 games.
Eight years on from his first goal, Mabkhout had another date with history against Al Dhafra. Going into the final match of the 2016/17 league season with 31 goals, the striker was looking to surpass Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan’s all-time record of the same number in a single season.
Within 21 minutes, he had achieved his objective, before adding a confirmation goal in the second half to end the season on 33 goals.
He may not remember his first Al Jazira goal well, and he has no idea how many international goals he has scored either: “I don’t know exactly, but it must be above 30”, but Mabkhout has a vivid memory of the night he opened his account for his country.
Mabkhout broke his international duck in style with four goals in a 6-2 friendly win against Bahrain in 2012. The first of his goals was a well-taken header from an Omar Abdulrahman cross, almost identical to Al Talyani’s goal that took the UAE to Italia 90.
Mabkhout and Abdulrahman played side-by-side across the different age groups for the UAE. Together with 2015 AFC Player of the Year Ahmed Khalil, the trio formed the core of the ‘Mahdi boys’, the second Emirati golden generation brought up by coach Mahdi Ali from the U-19s through the first team.
In 2009, Mabkhout was the youngest member of the squad that reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, before travelling to London for the 2012 Olympic Games with the same group of players.
“My wish is to see my teammates and coaching staff become the first team,” said Mabkhout ahead of London 2012. His wish would come true after Ali was appointed to head the senior national team, and he immediately called up the core of that U-23 side.
By then, Mabkhout had established himself as a first-team player at his club. His appearances in Al Jazira colours went up from four in his debut season to 24 matches in the 2012/13 season, when he hit double digits for the first time, ending the season on 11 league goals.
With his reputation growing inside the UAE, 2015 was the year the rest of Asia learned about the Emirati forward when the Whites travelled to Australia for the AFC Asian Cup.
Mabkhout netted a second-half brace in a 4-1 win over Qatar in their opening game, before he scored after just 14 seconds in the 2-1 victory over Bahrain in what remains the fastest goal in AFC Asian Cup history.
Then, seven minutes into the quarter-final match with defending champions Japan, Mabkhout received Amer Abdulrahman’s long pass and fired on the half-volley from a tight angle with a strike he fondly remembers.
“My goal against Japan remains the most valuable for me. It is my favourite moment with the national team,” notes Mabkhout, who also scored from the spot as his side progressed to the last four on penalties.
The UAE lost to hosts Australia in the semifinal, before snatching third place from Iraq. The Al Jazira man scored in the third-place decider to take his tally to five goals, which earned him the top scorer award.
Al Talyani remains the UAE’s all-time top goal scorer with 52 goals, but Mabkhout is third on that list with 39 strikes from 62 caps and, at just 27, he has plenty of time to add to his tally.
When he became his club side’s all-time top goal scorer last season, he broke a record that was held by former Brazil international Ricardo Oliveira, who Mabkhout would eventually replace as the club’s main man up front.
The one Al Jazira player that made the biggest influence on Mabkhout, though, was Montenegrin Mirko Vucinic, who arrived from Juventus in the summer of 2014 and, despite several injuries, averaged nearly a goal every game.
“Of all the forwards I saw at the club, Vucinic was the best. He was a true poacher in front of goal. I had a good relationship with him and he always gave me advice,” continues Mabkhout. “I learned a lot about how to move from him. Vucinic made scoring goals look so easy.”
In his eight years as a professional footballer, Mabkhout has conquered all domestic titles, established himself as one of the best strikers in the continent and led Al Jazira to the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final as the first Emirati team to achieve that feat.
But the 27-year-old’s ambition knows no limit. Going far in the AFC Champions League and winning a first AFC Asian Cup trophy for his country in a year’s time are next on his checklist.