Bandar Al-Ahbabi

Bandar Mohammed Mohammed Saeed Al-Ahbabi (Arabic:بندر محمد محمد سعيد الأحبابي) (born 9 July 1990) is an Emirati professional association footballer who plays for Al Ain.

Bandar Al-Ahbabi

Al-Ahbabi with the United Arab Emirates in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Bandar Mohammed Mohammed Saeed Al-Ahbabi[1]
Date of birth	(1990-07-09) 9 July 1990 (age 35)
Place of birth	Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s)	Right back, right winger
Team information
Current team	Al Ain
Number	11
Youth career
	Al Ain
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Al Ain	11	(0)
2012–2014	→ Al-Dhafra (loan)	41	(6)
2014–2016	Baniyas	45	(4)
2016–	Al Ain	132	(8)
International career‡
2015–	United Arab Emirates	33	(2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 September 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 29 March 2021

Academic career

Bandar began playing football when he was ten years old, where his physical education teacher Ismail helped him enroll for Al Ain FC's youth academy. His future as a professional player was about to end at age 12, when his father withdrew him from the academy because of its influences on his grades. Despite this, his mother persuaded him to play again.^[3]

International career

On 23 February 2014, Al Ahbabi was called up the first time to the UAE senior team for a 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Uzbekistan.^[4][5] He was left out of the starting line-up.^[6] On 11 June 2015, he made his debut with the national team in a 3–0 defeat to South Korea, starting the match and wearing the number 21 jersey.^[7][8]

Career statistic

Club

As of 28 September 2023^[9][10]

Club	Season	League			League Cup			Super Cup			UPC			ACL			Other			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Al Ain
	2009–10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—			1	0	0
	2010–11	11	0	1	10	3	2	—			0	0	0	5	0	1	—			26	3	4
	2011–12	0	0	0	2	0	0	—			0	0	0	0	0	0	—			2	0	0
	Total	11	0	1	13	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	1	—			29	3	4
Al Dhafra (loan)
	2012–13	20	3	4	5	2	3	—			1	0	0	—			—			26	5	7
	2013–14	21	4	5	6	2	5	—			3	0	3	—			—			30	6	13
	Total	41	7	9	11	4	8	0	0	0	4	0	3	—			—			56	11	20
Baniyas
	2014–15	21	4	3	6	2	2	—			2	0	1	0	0	0	—			29	6	6
	2015–16	22	0	2	5	0	0	—			3	0	1	—			—			30	0	3
	2016–17	2	0	0	3	0	0	—			—			—			—			5	0	0
	Total	45	4	5	14	2	2	0	0	0	5	0	2	0	0	0	—			64	6	9
Al Ain
	2016–17	15	0	5	1	0	0	—			2	0	0	5	0	1	—			23	0	6
	2017–18	13	0	1	2	0	2	—			0	0	0	7	0	1	—			22	0	4
	2018–19	21	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	1	6[a]	1	0	34	2	1
	2019–20	17	3	12	3	0	1	—			2	0	0	7	0	0	—			29	3	13
	2020–21	20	1	4	0	0	0	—			1	0	0	1	0	0	—			22	1	4
	2021–22	21	0	5	5	0	2	—			1	0	0	—			—			27	0	7
	2022–23	23	3	6	2	0	2	1	0	0	3	0	0	—			0	0	0	29	3	8
	2023–24	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	5	0	2
	Total	133	8	34	14	0	7	2	0	0	9	0	0	27	0	4	6	1	0	188	9	45
Career total		230	19	48	52	9	21	2	0	0	18	0	5	32	0	5	6	1	0	337	29	78

Notes

1. Four Appearances and one goal in FIFA Club World Cup, two appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup

International goals

Scores and results list the United Arab Emirates' goal tally first.^[11]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	21 March 2019	Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Saudi Arabia	1–1	2–1	Friendly
2.	30 August 2019	Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain	Dominican Republic	4–0	4–0	Friendly

Honours

Al Ain

• Arabian Gulf League: 2011–12, 2017–18, 2021–22
• UAE League Cup: 2021–22
• UAE President's Cup: 2017–18
• AFC Champions League: 2023–24
• AFC Champions League runner-up: 2016
• Arabian Gulf Super Cup runner-up: 2018
• FIFA Club World Cup runner-up: 2018

Individual

• AGL Player of the Month: October 2019^[12]
• AGL Dream Team: 2018–19
• AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 2019^[13]
• UAE Pro League The Golden Ball Best Emirati player of the Year: 2021–22 (UAE Pro League Season awards)