Place of birth Salalah, Oman Name Hani Al-Dhabit Role Footballer | Number 14 Height 1.86 m 1992–1996 Dhofar Date joined 1998 | |
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Full name Hani Al-Dhabit Faraj Bait Al-Noobi Date of birth (1979-10-15) 15 October 1979 (age 36) Current team Oman national football team (Midfielder, Forward) | ||
Playing position | ||
Hani Al-Dhabit Faraj Bait Al-Noobi commonly known as Hani Al-Dhabit (Arabic: هاني الضابط فرج بيت النوبي; born 15 October 1979) is an Omani footballer who plays for Dhofar S.C.S.C. in Oman Professional League.
Contents
- Club career
- International career
- Gulf Cup of Nations
- AFC Asian Cup Qualification
- FIFA World Cup Qualification
- Goals for senior national team
- Club
- Country
- Trivia
- References
Club career
Hani Al-Dhabit is a long-time veteran of the most successful sports club in Oman, Dhofar S.C.S.C. and has been in the squad for over 10 years. He is the captain of Dhofar and wears the number 14 jersey, as he had previously worn throughout his career with the national team.
He has also played for various clubs in GCC like for Baniyas SC of the United 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.
Gulf Cup of Nations
Hani has made appearances in the 1998 Gulf Cup of Nations, the 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations, the 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations, the 2003 Gulf Cup of Nations and the 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations.
In the 1998 Gulf Cup of Nations, 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.
He first showed his talent during the 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations scoring five goals, a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over the then powerhouse 9-time competition winners, Kuwait, 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 with the "Top Goal Scorer" award. In the tournament, Oman finished at the fifth place with four points from one win and one draw.
Although not being successful in scoring any goals in both the 2003 Gulf Cup of Nations and the 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations, he still made many appearances, and was handed the captain's band once again in the 2003 Gulf Cup of Nations. This time Hani led Oman to its most successful position ever yet in the Gulf Cup of Nations competition, reaching the final four round for the first time with eight points from two wins and two draws.
During the 2004 Gulf Cup of Nations, 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 normal time. Amad Al-Hosni was awarded the "Top Goal Scorer" award of the competition with a total of four goals.
AFC Asian Cup Qualification
He scored five goals in the qualification for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, one in a 7-0 win over Nepal, a brace in a 6-0 win over Vietnam, other in a 3-1 win over South Korea and another in a 2-0 win over Vietnam 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 and a 2-2 draw against Iran and hence failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
FIFA World Cup Qualification
He has made fourteen appearances in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification and has represented the national team in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.
He scored eleven goals in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, five goals in a 12-0 win over Laos, a brace in the return leg in a 7-0 win over Laos, a brace in a 7-0 win over Philippines and another in a 2-2 draw against the United Arab Emirates. 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 Hani.
After eventually being knocked out of qualification, Hani 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, 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.