Abdelhamid Abuhabib

Abdelhamid Abuhabib (Arabic: عبد الحميد أبو حبيب‎; born 6 August 1989) is a Palestinian footballer currently playing for Hebron-based Shabab Al-Khaleel of the West Bank Premier League.

Early years

Abuhabeeb grew up playing football in the streets of Khan Younis from an early age. He joined his local club Shabab Khan Younis's youth team as an adolescent, following in the footsteps of his older brother Mohammed. Despite his small stature, it didn't take long before Abuhabib joined his older brother on the senior side earning his first cap in 2005.

Club career

Merkaz Balata

Like many other Gazan footballers Abuhabib went to the West Bank in search of more steady league play as the Gazan league had been victim of political turmoil. He signed with Merkaz Shabab Balata in 2009 and was able to secure an exit visa to travel to the West Bank. Upon his arrival, he was surprised to learn that he had not signed with a top tier side, but with a side playing in the second division. Abuhabib had a fantastic first season with Balata, scoring 9 goals and helping them earn promotion to the West Bank Premier League. His sublime skill caught the eye of the more established Shabab Al-Khaleel whom he signed with but voided the contract over undisclosed disputes. In 2010, Abuhabib signed a one-year deal keeping him in Nablus with Balata.^[1]

His second season with the club would prove to be even more spectacular. In the league, Abuhabib scored 12 goals in 22 matches helping power the newly promoted side to fourth place in the 12-team league. He also turned in numerous man of the match performances in the Palestinian FA Cup scoring 8 goals in 8 games helping Balata reach the final where they lost to Hilal Al-Quds. In Abuhabib's first season in the Palestinian top flight he had 22 goals in the three competitions (12 league goals, 8 FA Cup goals, 2 Yasser Arafat Cup goals). He once again opted to extend his contract for an added year at the end of the season.^[2] He moved to Shabab Al-Khaleel at the end of the 2011–12 season.

International career

Abuhabib received his first call-up to the Olympic team in 2009 to face Tunisia. He played a pivotal role in Palestine's attempt to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Having been barred from traveling to Thailand by Israeli authorities for the first leg of the first round of Olympic Qualifying Abuhabib would start the second leg. He scored the only goal of the game- and the first goal in a competitive international in Palestine- in the 43rd minute on a spectacular volley from 25 meters.

Abuhabib also played well in the next round against Bahrain helping Palestine win 0–1 in Manama and helping them take 1–0 halftime lead in the return leg in Palestine. Palestine would eventually go out on away goals falling just short of 3rd round of Olympic Qualifying.

Abuhabib was called up to the senior team in July 2011 to face Thailand but had to withdraw from training after suffering an abdominal injury. He made his debut as a late substitute in an October 2011 friendly against Iran. He scored his first and second goals in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup third place playoff against the Philippines.

International goals

Senior team

Scores and results list the Palestine's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	19 March 2011	Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu	Philippines	1–1	3–4	2012 AFC Challenge Cup
2.	19 March 2011	Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu	Philippines	2–3	3–4	2012 AFC Challenge Cup
3.	4 March 2013	Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu	Northern Mariana Islands	2–0	9–0	2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifier
4.	4 March 2013	Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu	Northern Mariana Islands	4–0	9–0	2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifier
5.	19 May 2014	National Football Stadium, Malé	Kyrgyzstan	1–0	1–0	2014 AFC Challenge Cup
6.	21 May 2014	National Football Stadium, Malé	Myanmar	1–0	2–0	2014 AFC Challenge Cup
7.	9 November 2014	Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi	Vietnam	1–0	3–1	Friendly

Olympic team

Scores and results list the Palestine's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	9 March 2011	Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Al-Ram	Thailand	1–0	1–0	2012 Summer Olympics qualifier

Honours

National team

• AFC Challenge Cup: 2014

References

Palestine squad – 2015 AFC Asian Cup 1 Tawfiq 2 Fares 3 Abu Saleh 4 Harbi 5 Dheeb 6 Abu Jazar 7 Nu'man 8 Salhe 9 Salem 10 Al-Amour 11 Maher 12 Salah 13 Ihbeisheh 14 Jaber 15 Bahdari 16 Eid 17 Norambuena 18 Al-Batat 19 Abuhabib 20 Yousef 21 Saleh (c) 22 Hamada 23 Said Coach: Jendeya