Abdelhamid Abuhabib (; born 6 August 1989) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

currently playing for Hebron-based

Shabab Al-Khaleel Shabab Al-Khaleel Sports Club (), or simply Shabab Al-Khaleel, is a Palestinian professional football club from the city of Hebron that plays in the West Bank Premier League. Honours * West Bank League (7) ** Champions (6): 1979, 1982, 1986, 1 ...

of the West Bank Premier League.

Early years

Abuhabeeb grew up playing football in the streets of

Khan Younis Khan Yunis (), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war. Before the 14th century, Khan ...

from an early age.

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

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. 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 In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

performances in the Palestinian FA Cup scoring 8 goals in 8 games helping Balata reach the final where they lost to

Hilal Al-Quds Hilal Al-Quds Club () is a Palestinian sports and cultural club. Its professional football section was established in 1972 within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The club's motto is "Development, training and rehabilitation of Jerusalemit ...

. 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. He moved to

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 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. Abuhabib also played in the next round against Bahrain helping Palestine win 0–1 in

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

. Palestine would eventually go out on away goals falling short of 3rd round of Olympic Qualifying. Abuhabib made his debut as a late substitute in an October 2011 friendly against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. He scored his first and second goals in the

2012 AFC Challenge Cup The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup was the fourth edition of the tournament, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the defunct Vision Asia progr ...

third place playoff against the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

International goals

Senior team

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

Olympic team

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

Honours

National team

AFC Challenge Cup The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that were categorised as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. It was created by former AFC president Mohammed ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abuhabib, Abdelhamid 1989 births Living people Palestinian men's footballers Footballers from Khan Yunis Markaz Balata players Shabab Al-Khaleel SC players West Bank Premier League players Palestine men's international footballers 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Men's association football midfielders Palestine men's youth international footballers