Ahmed Khalil Sebait Mubarak Al-Junaibi (Arabic: أحمد خليل سبيت مبارك الجنيبي; born 8 June 1991) is an Emirati footballer who plays as a forward for Al Bataeh and United Arab Emirates national team.

Ahmed Khalil
Personal information
Full name Ahmed Khalil Sebait Mubarak Al-Junaibi[1]
Date of birth (1991-06-08) 8 June 1991 (age 33)[2]
Place of birth Sharjah, United Arab Emirates[1]
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Al Bataeh
Number 11
Youth career
2001–2006 Shabab Al Ahli
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2017 Shabab Al Ahli 184 (65)
2017–2018 Al Jazira 2 (0)
2018 Al Ain 9 (4)
2018–2022 Shabab Al Ahli 45 (24)
2022– Al Bataeh 23 (1)
International career
2004–2006 United Arab Emirates U17 7 (6)
2006–2010 United Arab Emirates U20 15 (13)
2010–2014 United Arab Emirates U23 14 (14)
2008–2019 United Arab Emirates 105 (48)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  United Arab Emirates
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2010 Guangzhou Team competition
AFC Asian Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Australia Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 November 2019

In 2006, Ahmed won the 2006 GCC U-17 Championship with UAE U17, in which he was top scorer with five goals. Later in the same years, he joined the first team. The following season with Al-Ahli, Ahmed won his first club honour, the President Cup, and was the top scorer with four goals. In 2008, Ahmed won Super Cup and his first Pro-League 2008–09, and with UAE U20 won the AFC U-19 Championship 2008, and was named player of the tournament and the top scorer with four goals. He was named the most promising Arab Player of the Year by Al-Ahram and Al Hadath magazines and also Asian Young Footballer of the Year.[4][5][6][7] In 2009, Ahmed led UAE U20 to the Quarter-finals in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup,[8] and scored two goals in the tournament, and was named for the second consecutive time Al-Ahram Most promising Arab player of the Year[9] and nominee of the Asian Young Footballer of the Year for two times.[10] In 2010, Ahmed continued his outstanding performance, by leading UAE Olympic football team. to win the 2010 GCC U-23 Championship by scoring five goals in the tournament and win the top scorer,[11] and for the first ever football silver medal in UAE history at the Asian Games[12] and scored three goals in the tournament. He was named the Best Young Athlete Player of the Year by Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award.[13][14][15]

Ahmed won the Asian Footballer of the Year in 2015 after leading his club to the final of the AFC Champions League and UAE to the third-place in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Early life

edit

Ahmed was born on 8 June 1991 in Sharjah, descended from a family of footballers. His father, Khalil Sebait, is a former player for an old football club during his time in Kuwait and his brothers Fahd, Fouad (Retired), Faisal, Fathi, Mohamed, and finally Ahmed, all of whom played for Al Ahli.[16]

Club career

edit

Al Ahli

edit

Ahmed started his career in the Red Fort at the age of eight,[16] and included in the youth teams until he reached the first team, in the middle of the 2006–07 season under French coach Alan Michel[17] On 13 May 2007, (at 16 years) in 89 min and 3 sec, Ahmed scored his first goal for the club and in the league, in a 4–1 victory over Al Wahda.[16][18]

2009–10 season

edit

On 18 March 2010, Ahmad scored his first hat-trick of the season against Al-Nasr SC. The match ended a 4–2 win for Al Ahli.[19] On 30 March 2010, against Al-Hilal in the AFC Champions League, Khalil scored a goal in the 42nd minute, before the end of the first half. The game ended 3–2 to Al-Hilal.[20]

Negotiations with Portsmouth
edit

On 24 June 2009 news spread that Khalil will move to the Premier League after what Sulaiman Al-Fahim said that Portsmouth is in need the services of Khalil.[21]

2010–11 season

edit

On 26 August 2010, Ahmed start the season with a 2–0 defeat against Al Dhafra in his first match.[22][23] On 2 September 2010, Ahmed scored his first goal in this season in a 4–1 victory over arch rivals Al Wasl.[24] His goalscoring run ended after this match. On 24 September 2010, Ahmed assisted teammate Ahmad Khamis against Al Jazira which ended in a 2–2 draw,[25] He once again assisted teammate Ahmad Khamis to score a goal in a 3–1 win against Dubai on 15 October 2010.[26] After his absence from the scoring for a five games he back to score against Al Sharjah with a free kick on a 2–1 win.[27] In the last match in 2010 he assisted teammate Pinga in a 1–0 win against Baniyas.[28][29] His first goal in 2011 came against Al Jazira with a penalty kick on a 5–1 away loss.[30] He continued his goalscoring in the next fixture against Dubai on a 2–1 away loss.[31] After two games without goalscoring, he scored the tie goal 1–1 against Al Sharjah in a 2–3 away victory.[32]

2011–12 season

edit

Ahmed started the season with Al Ahli by beating Kazma 1–0 in the first leg of the GCC Champions League Semi-final.[33]

Al Jazira

edit

Starting from summer 2017, Ahmed joined Al Jazira Club on a free transfer deal.[34]

International career

edit

Ahmed is one of the few who have played for 3 national team at the same time, (U-20, U-23 and UAE). He has been playing for the U-20 since he was just 15 in 2006, and has made over 70 appearances for UAE at junior levels (U-17, U-19, U-20 and U-23), as well as 13 appearances for the senior team.

The beginning of Ahmed with national teams was with under-17 by winning the 2006 GCC U-17 Championship in the Saudi Arabia. And he won the Golden Boot after scoring 5 goals in 5 matches of 5 Uae's matches in the tournament. In 2008, in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, with under-20, he was part of a team that won the 2008 AFC U-19 Championship and was a factor by scoring two winning goals in the final against Uzbekistan. He was named Player of the tournament and awarded the Golden Boot with four goals. A year later, he led the under-20 to the quarter-final in 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup and he scored two goal, one against Honduras with a free kick in the 41st minute, and one against Venezuela in the 83rd minute a pass from teammate Ahmed Ali. Perhaps his most successful year was the 2010, in which he led the Olympic team to win the 2010 GCC U-23 Championship and was the top scorer with five goals of 4 matches. After only two months, he came back to lead the Olympic team for the first ever football silver medal in UAE history at Asian Games, and scored three goals, one against Bangladesh in the 3–0 victory and two in a 0–3 victory over Uzbekistan.

2010 AFC U-19 Championship

edit

On 4 October 2010, Ahmed played against Japan and scored a last-minute draw goal but the match ended in 2–1 loss, In second match was against Jordan ended 0–0, In his third and final Group match, Ahmed scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win against Vietnam. In the quarter-finals, against Australia with the score at 1–0 for Australia, he won a penalty and turned the match to draw 1–1, again he turn the match to a 2–2 draw in the last minutes, the match went to extra times but ended with a 4–2 win. Ahmed scored six of his side's seven tournament goals, an amazing feat that cemented him as the runner-up for the tournament Golden Boot.

2011 AFC Asian Cup

edit

On 11 January 2011, Ahmed played his first official match in international competition in UAE 0–0 draw with North Korea, he tried to help the attack to score but couldn't, and Al Kathiri came on as a substitute for Ahmed in the 77th minute.[35] In his second game against Iraq, his form was too bad and the match ended in a 1–0 loss. On the third and last group stage match UAE were eliminated from the Asian Cup with a 3–0 loss against Iran.[36] Ahmed failed to make an impact in the Asian Cup; his performance was so disappointing and did not score any goal.[37][38][39]

2012 Summer Olympics

edit

He was included in Mahdi Ali's squad to participate in 2012 Summer Olympics in the country's first appearance. He played his first match against Uruguay; however, the match ended 1–2 in favor of Uruguay. He also played UAE's next matches against Great Britain and Senegal which ended 1–3 and 1–1. UAE finished at the bottom of the group and Khalil failed to score in the tournament.

2015 AFC Asian Cup

edit

Khalil was named in United Arab Emirates' final squad for 2015 AFC Asian Cup, held in Australia. He started in UAE's opener match against Qatar and scored two goals at their 4–1 win. He scored the first goal when Qatar was led the game 1–0 and scored the second 20 minutes later. At the end, he was named as man of the match and is the second top scorer of the tournament behind his teammate Ali Mabkhout.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

edit

On 3 September 2015, Khalil scored four goals, in a 10–0 defeat of Malaysia in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.[40]

Career statistics

edit

Club

edit
As of 23 May 2024.[41][42]
Club Season League Cup1 Gulf Asia Club World Cup Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Al Ahli 2006–07 4 4 -
2007–08 14 5 -
2008–09 9 1 - 4 1 0
2009–10 17 11 - 6 2 0
2010–11 18 5 - 3 0 0
2011–12 12 2 -
2012–13 18 4 -
2013–14 23 9 0 6 1 0
2014–15 24 5 3 14 6 4
2015–16 25 7 4
2016–17 20 12 2 5 0 0
Total 184 65
Al Jazira 2017–18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Total 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Al Ain 2017–18 9 4 0 5 3 0 7 2 0 0 0 0 21 9 0
Total 9 4 0 5 3 0 0 0 0 7 2 0 0 0 0 21 9 0
Shabab Al Ahli 2018–19 20 9 5
2019–20 16 13 2 6 0 0
2020–21 5 2 1
2021–22 4 0 0 1 0
Total 45 24 8 121
Al Bataeh Club 2022–23 7 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 2 0
2023–24 16 1 0 2 0 18 1 0
Total 23 1 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 3 0
Career total

1Other tournaments include the President Cup and Etisalat Cup, Etisalat Super Cup

International

edit
As of 29 November 2019[43]
United Arab Emirates national team
Year Apps Goals
2008 7 0
2009 5 1
2010 5 3
2011 12 6
2012 3 0
2013 13 8
2014 15 5
2015 13 14
2016 11 6
2017 7 2
2018 6 1
2019 8 2
Total 105 48

International goals

edit
As of 29 January 2019
Scores and results list the United Arab Emirates' goal tally first.[43]
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 21 January 2009 KLFA Stadium, Kuala Lumpur   Malaysia
5–0
5–0
2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2. 5 January 2010 Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai   Malaysia
1–0
1–0
3. 29 May 2010 Sportzentrum Anif   Moldova
3–2
3–2
Friendly
4. 7 September 2010 Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Kuwait
1–0
3–0
5. 17 July 2011 Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium, Al Ain   Lebanon
1–0
6–2
6.
2–0
7.
5–1
8. 25 August 2011 Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium, Al Ain   Qatar
2–0
3–1
9.
3–0
10. 2 September 2011 Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Al Ain   Kuwait
2–3
2–3
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
29 December 2012 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha   Yemen
1–0
3–1
Unofficial friendly
11. 11 January 2013 Khalifa Sports Stadium, Isa Town   Oman
1–0
2–0
21st Arabian Gulf Cup
12. 11 January 2013 Khalifa Sports Stadium, Isa Town   Oman
2–0
2–0
21st Arabian Gulf Cup
13. 15 January 2013 Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa   Kuwait
1–0
1–0
14. 6 February 2013 Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi   Vietnam
1–0
2–1
2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
15. 22 March 2013 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Uzbekistan
1–1
2–1
16. 5 September 2013 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh   Trinidad and Tobago
3–0
3–3
2013 OSN Cup
17. 9 September 2013 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh   New Zealand
1–0
2–0
9 October 2013 Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre, Shenzhen   Malaysia
1–0
3–1 Unofficial friendly
2–0
18. 19 November 2013 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Vietnam
5–0
5–0
2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
19. 6 November 2014 Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium, Khobar   Lebanon
1–0
3–2 Friendly
20.
2–0
21.
3–1
22. 23 November 2014 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh   Saudi Arabia
1–2
2–3 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup
23.
2–2
24. 11 January 2015 Canberra Stadium, Canberra   Qatar
1–1
4–1 2015 AFC Asian Cup
25.
4–1
26. 30 January 2015 Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle   Iraq
1–0
3–2 2015 AFC Asian Cup
27.
2–2
28. 3 September 2015 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Malaysia
3–0
10–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
29.
5–0
30.
8–0
31.
10–0
32. 8 October 2015 King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah   Saudi Arabia
1–0
1–2
33. 12 November 2015 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   East Timor
3–0
8–0
34.
4–0
35.
6–0
36.
7–0
37. 17 November 2015 Shah Alam Stadium, Selangor   Malaysia
2–0
2–1
38. 18 March 2016 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Bangladesh
2–1
6–1
Friendly
39. 24 March 2016 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Palestine
2–0
2–0
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
40. 1 September 2016 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama   Japan
1–1
2–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
41.
2–1
42. 6 October 2016 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Thailand
3–1
3–1
43. 15 November 2016 Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Iraq
1–0
2–0
44. 7 June 2017 Shah Alam Stadium, Selangor   Laos
2–0
4–0
Friendly
45. 29 August 2017 Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain   Saudi Arabia
2–1
2–1
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
46. 22 March 2018 Rajamangala National Stadium, Bangkok   Slovakia
1–2
1–2
2018 King's Cup
47. 5 January 2019 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Bahrain
1–1
1–1
2019 AFC Asian Cup
48. 21 January 2019 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi   Kyrgyzstan
3–2
3–2 (a.e.t.)
2019 AFC Asian Cup

Honours

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "United Arab Emirates - Ahmed Khalil - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  2. ^ "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009 presented by Toyota: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 9 December 2009. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Ahmed Khalil". UAE Pro League. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Ahmad Khalil Best Young Player". AFP. 3 January 2009. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Ahmed Khalil best promising player in 2008". Iraq: alfayhaa. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  6. ^ "Ahmed Khalil AFC Youth Player of the Year". UAE: Al Ittihad. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Khalil dedicates award to family". AFC. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Khalil sends UAE into quarter-finals". AFC. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  9. ^ "Al Ahram – Ahmed Khalil best promising player in 2009". alraynews. 1 January 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  10. ^ "AFC Youth Player of the Year (men) – Ki Sung-yueng (Korea Republic)". AFC. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  11. ^ "Khaleel inspires UAE to title". AFC. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  12. ^ "UAE Olympic mark a historic breakthrough and wins Asiad silver". UAE: Al Ittihad. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  13. ^ "Ahmad Khalil: honor and motive to achieve greater ambitions". UAE: albayan. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  14. ^ Juma, Omar (13 December 2010). "Ahmad Khalil: my eyes on the title of best player in Asia". UAE: albayan. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  15. ^ - Mustafa Deeb, Ali Al Maali (7 January 2011). "Honored the Winners of Award "Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports"". UAE: Al Ittihad. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  16. ^ a b c Elkoussy, Ebadi (28 November 2008). "Khalil's family and the six talent". UAE: Al Ittihad. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  17. ^ Khalil, Muan (15 September 2010). "Stardom exceptional". UAE: Al Khaleej. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  18. ^ "Ahmed first goal with Al Ahli". YouTube. 13 May 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  19. ^ Souissi, Osama (18 March 2010). ""Victory" for "Al Ahli" due to "hat-trick" Khalil". emaratalyoum.com.
  20. ^ "Al Hilal extend his lead in the fourth AFC Champions League". kooora.com. 9 July 2019.
  21. ^ Wilson, Zack. "Portsmouth Target UAE Stars Ahmed Khalil & Hamdan Al Kamali – Report". goal.com.
  22. ^ "Al Dhafra 2 – 0 Al Ahli". soccerway. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  23. ^ "Al Dhafra brace surprises Cannavaro's Al Ahli". uaefootballleague. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  24. ^ "Al Ahli defeats rivals Al Wasel 4–1 in first home game of the season". alahliclub. 26 August 2010. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  25. ^ "Al Jazira on Top of Table". uaefootballleague. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  26. ^ "Al Wahda and Al Ahli move forward provisionally". uaefootballleague. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  27. ^ "Bani Yas beats Al Nasr 1–0 to regain leadership provisionally". uaefootballleague. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  28. ^ "Pinga's brilliant shot wins it for Al Ahli". alahliclub. 24 December 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  29. ^ "220 goals scored in the first Round of the Etisalat Pro-League". uaefootballleague. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  30. ^ "Al Jazira beat Al Ahli with a 5–1 thrilling victory". UFL. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.[permanent dead link]
  31. ^ "Michael's late goal secures a 2–1 win for Dubai over Al Ahli". UFL. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.[permanent dead link]
  32. ^ "Al Ahli beat Sharjah 3–2 to jump to sixth position". UFL. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.[permanent dead link]
  33. ^ "Al Ahli beat Kazma 1–0 in the GCC Clubs Semi-final first leg match". United Arab Emirates: UPL. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  34. ^ "Al Ahli and UAE striker Ahmed Khalil set for big-money move to AGL rivals Al Jazira". The National. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  35. ^ "DPR Korea 0–0 UAE". afc. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.[permanent dead link]
  36. ^ "UAE lose to Iran 3–0". uaefootballleague.com. 19 January 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  37. ^ "I faced difficulties prevented me from glittering in the Asian Cup". alarabiya.net. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  38. ^ "Katanec: Ahmed Khalil the best player in the Gulf, But tired". emaratalyoum.com. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  39. ^ "Katanec: We must maintain Ahmed Khalil". shabiba.com. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.[permanent dead link]
  40. ^ "WORLD CUP QUALIFYING – AFC 3/9/2015 10:15*". ESPN FC. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  41. ^ "Ahmed Khalil Career Stats". uaefootballleague. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011.
  42. ^ "Player – Ahmed Khalil". scoresway. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
  43. ^ a b Roberto Mamrud. "Ahmed Khalil Sebait Mubarak Al-Junaibi - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
edit