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Palestinian footballers and Palestinian Football do not get much attention.
There is one player who is shining through though- Oday Dabbagh.
The Jerusalemite will turn 24 in December but he has already accomplished a lot in his short career. Before leaving Palestine he notched 40 league goals for Hilal Al-Quds and another 12 in the Cup.
At 20, he became Palestine’s all time leading scorer in the AFC Cup- Asia’s equivalent of the Europa League- with six goals.
With the U23 national team Dabbagh spearheaded a team that qualified for Palestine’s only youth tournament finals in. He then led that team to the quarterfinals where they lost a 3-2 thriller to a Qatar side that fielded many of the stars that would go on to win the 2019 AFC Asian Cup with their senior team a year later.
Dabbagh did not feature as prominently at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup as he should have but he used that rejection to pursue a transfer outside of Palestine. In August that year he signed with Salmiya of the Kuwaiti top tier. A month later, he scored in Palestine’s famous 2-0 victory over Uzbekistan in 2022 World Cup qualification.
Then his career suffered a hiccup.
He got injured and Salmiya refused to pay his wages. So he voided his contract and signed with Qadsia but despite a respectable goal tally- four in his first season- he was shunted out on loan. TWICE.
A year later Qadsia watched as their player scored against them- and nearly everyone else in the league- en route to becoming the Kuwaiti League’s top scorer and clinching Al-Arabi’s first league title in nearly 20 years.
Europe beckoned next.
Arouca signed Dabbagh, but there was a problem. He couldn’t get a visa and as a result missed the entirety of preseason with the newly promoted club.
Then something weird happened. Arouca signed not one but two Israelis whose names also began with O. Or Dasa and Omri Altman, a weird move for a club that hardly signed foreign players from outside Portugal’s former colonial periphery.
In spite of the drama, Dabbagh put his head down and went to work. He made his debut on August 28th, 2021 against Porto. On September 18th he scored his first goal in European football sparking a comeback in a 2-2 draw vs. Vitoria de Guimarães. In spite of spending most of the season as a super sub Dabbagh finished as the second top scorer of the club chipping in four goals and an assist. His goal contributions contributed to four critical points which helped Arouca survive the drop (they finished two points above the relegation zone).
A return to the national team over the summer saw more critical goals scored. A half fit Dabbagh came off the bench and scored a penalty that gave Palestine a 1-0 against a stubborn Mongolia side playing on what is possibly the worst surface in international football.
Dabbagh started the next game against Yemen and had a goal and an assist in a 5-0 win. His goal scoring streak ended at five as he didn’t manage to score any of the four goals against the Philippines but his statistics with the national team signal that all records will soon fall at his feet.
Dabbagh has 10 goals and five assists in 27 caps (19 starts). He sits fifth in all time goals and needs only five to overtake Fahed Attal. It will happen and might come as soon as 2023.
The world will not take notice of Dabbagh’s feats in Asia, though. His European exploits will garner infinitely more attention.
A combination of administrative issues led to the Jerusalemite missing Arouca’s first seven games of the season. Dabbagh took his misfortune as a challenge. Worked hard in the background and made the squad as a substitute for the eighth game of the season.
Then he did what he always does. Score. 23 minutes was all he needed. He was named Man of the Match as his goal helped Arouca split the points with Paços de Ferreira.
He was all smiles afterwards but was not satisfied- knowing that he could have scored again late on.
As an encore he repeated the trick this past week. Coming on with 25 minutes to go and with his team comfortably up 3-1, he scored from long range to seal a 4-1 win over Famalicão.
With that goal, Dabbagh reached six goals in the Portuguese top flight in a quicker time frame than the Premeira Liga’s original Asian Sensation- Mehdi Taremi.
Dabbagh once again is one of the league’s best in terms of scoring efficiency and averages a goal involvement every other game over the course of his European career.
The obvious question is how much longer will Oday Dabbagh stay at Arouca?
He’s out of contract in the summer which gives him the freedom to pick his next move and he has most certainly done enough to move to a more established Portuguese side.
Dabbagh might very well be the replacement for the aforementioned Taremi. The Iranian forward has been linked with a January move to Arsenal and if Dabbagh continues scoring goals between now and the winter transfer window perhaps Porto swoops in an purchases him for a cut-rate price.
This is not fanciful thinking, a recent analysis conducted by Total Football Analysis shows exactly how good Dabbagh is and how he might even further mature into an even better version of himself:
“Dabbagh was among the best players outside the top ten teams in the league and probably the best as well. Helped his team attain safety and another season of guaranteed stay in the top flight. Pretty much excels in goal scoring, assisting his teammates by creating chances as well. If he can improve his ability to consistently make runs and beat his man in 1v1 situations he could be a top forward. He is also very good in the air and can be used as a good outlet and presence further up the pitch.”
It now feels just like a matter of time before Dabbagh becomes a household name.
