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Al Dhafra FC

Al Dhafra
logo
Full nameAl Dhafra Football Club
Nickname(s)Al Fursan Al Gharib
(The Western Knights)
Founded2000
GroundAl Dhafra Stadium
Capacity5,020
OwnerHamdan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
ManagerPaulo Comelli
LeagueUAE First Division League
2023–247th
Websitehttp://www.dfsc.ae/dhafra

Al Dhafra FC (Arabic: نادي الظفرة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Madinat Zayed that competes in the UAE First Division League.[1]

Their futsal club participated in AFC Futsal Club Championship.

History

Al Dhafra FC was established in 2000, as part of a policy to promote sports across the country and the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi had no team, so Al Dhafra is the first and only club to be located in the western region.[2] For most of its history the club was classified as a semi-professional club according to the UAE Pro League committee and did not have licenses to compete in the AFC competitions but the team had continued to appeal for a license since qualifying for the UAE President's Cup for the first time in 2019.[3] Around 2020 the club finally obtained their licenses, thus all pro league teams can compete in AFC competitions.[4]

Honours

Season-by-season record

Season Lvl. Tms. Pos. President's Cup League Cup
2008–09 1 12 8th Semi-Finals First Round
2009–10 1 12 9th Quarter-Finals First Round
2010–11 1 12 12th Round of 16 First Round
2011–12 2 8 4th Round of 16
2012–13 1 14 8th Round of 16 First Round
2013–14 1 14 8th Semi-Finals Semi-Finals
2014–15 1 14 11th Semi-Finals First Round
2015–16 1 14 8th Round of 16 First Round
2016–17 1 14 7th Round of 16 First Round
2017–18 1 12 10th Round of 16 First Round
2018–19 1 14 10th Runner-ups First Round
2019–20a 1 14 7th Finalists First Round
2020–21 1 14 11th Quarter-Finals First Round
2021–22 1 14 12th Round of 16 First Round
2022–23 1 14 14th Round of 16 Quarter-Finals

Notes^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

Current squad

As of 2023 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Oman OMA Mazen Al-Harasi
2 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Ali Moustafa
5 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Mansoor Al-Harbi
6 DF Togo TOG Ezeckiel Noumonvi
7 FW Oman OMA Fares Al-Jabri
8 MF Ghana GHA Zackariah Mohammed
9 FW United Arab Emirates UAE Ahmed Al Attas
10 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Khalil Ibrahim
11 MF Serbia SRB Slavoljub Srnić
12 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Sultan Husain
14 MF Egypt EGY Hossam Loutfy
15 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Hamad Al-Marzouqi
17 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Ibrahim Al-Hammadi
18 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Yousef Ayman
19 FW Guinea GUI Mohamed Yattara
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 DF Ghana GHA Leonard Amesimeku
21 MF Cameroon CMR Rostand Djooh
22 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Rayan Yaslam
27 DF Oman OMA Nashid Abdul Qadir
28 MF Brazil BRA Pernambuco
29 FW United Arab Emirates UAE Abdullah Al-Hammadi
30 GK United Arab Emirates UAE Abdullah Sultan
31 MF Brazil BRA Vitor Moura
44 GK Syria SYR Amjad Al-Sayed
50 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Ibrahim Saeed
55 DF Greece GRE Adam Tzanetopoulos
70 GK United Arab Emirates UAE Jarah Al-Hammadi
71 FW United Arab Emirates UAE Saleh Al-Hosani U21
77 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Abdullah Fadaaq (on loan from Al-Jazira)
MF Ukraine UKR Aghyad Al-Bekri

Managerial history

Name Nat. From To Ref.
Piet Hamberg Netherlands 2003 2004
Sebastião Rocha Brazil 2005 2006
Ammar Souayah Tunisia May 2007 November 2007 [5][6]
Ayman El Ramadi Egypt November 2007 August 2008 [7]
Mohammad Kwid Syria September 2008 December 2008 [8]
Eid Baroot United Arab Emirates December 2008 June 2009 [9]
Laurent Banide France July 2009 February 2010 [10]
Slobodan Halilović Serbia February 2010 March 2010
Michel Decastel Switzerland March 2010 November 2010 [11]
Alexandre Guimarães Costa Rica November 2010 April 2011
Mohammad Kwid Syria April 2011 June 2011 [12]
Baltemar Brito Brazil June 2011 December 2011 [13][14]
Magdy Mostafa Egypt December 2011 May 2012
Džemal Hadžiabdić Bosnia and Herzegovina May 2012 December 2012 [15]
Laurent Banide France December 2012 April 2013 [16]
Abdullah Mesfer United Arab Emirates April 2013 May 2014
Anel Karabeg Bosnia and Herzegovina May 2014 September 2014 [17]
Marin Ion Romania September 2014 January 2015 [18]
Laurent Banide France January 2015 November 2015 [19]
Mohammad Kwid Syria November 2015 January 2018
Gjoko Hadžievski North Macedonia January 2018 May 2018 [20]
Vuk Rašović Serbia May 2018 September 2020 [21]
Mohammad Kwid Syria September 2020 October 2020 [22]
Aleksandar Veselinović Serbia October 2020 January 2021
Mohammad Kwid Syria January 2021 October 2021
Rogério Micale Brazil October 2021 March 2022 [23]
Badr Al Idrissi Morocco March 2022 May 2022 [24]
Nebojša Vignjević Serbia July 2022 October 2022
Aleksandar Veselinović Serbia October 2022 February 2023
Badr Al Idrissi Morocco February 2023 August 2023
Abdullah Mesfer United Arab Emirates August 2023 November 2023
Paulo Comelli Brazil December 2023 present

See also

References

  1. ^ "Al Dhafra SCC". Soccerway. Perform. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Al Dhafra History". Al Dhafra. Al Dhafra FC. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  3. ^ "الظفرة يستأنف ضد عدم منحه ترخيص المحترفين" (in Arabic). البيان. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  4. ^ "14 نادياً تحصل على الترخيص الآسيوي" (in Arabic). البيان. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  5. ^ التونسي عمار السويح مدرباً للظفرة
  6. ^ الظفرة الاماراتي يقيل مدربه التونسي السويح
  7. ^ الرمادي: استقلت من الظفرة احتراماً لمهنة التدريب
  8. ^ الظفرة يتعاقد مع السوري قويض لقيادة فريق الكرة
  9. ^ عيد باروت مدرباً للظفرة محل قويض
  10. ^ إقالة لوران بانيد مدرب الظفرة
  11. ^ الظفرة ينهي تعاقده مع السويسري دي كاستال
  12. ^ السوري القويض مدربا للظفرة الإماراتي
  13. ^ مساعد مورينيو مدرباً للظفــرة
  14. ^ مساعد مورينيو مدرباً للظفــرة
  15. ^ الظفرة يقيل حاجي وبانيد بديلاً
  16. ^ بانيد مدرب الظفرة الجديد يجتمع مع الإدارة واللاعبين اليوم
  17. ^ خميس المنصوري: 8 لاعبين يغادرون الظفرة
  18. ^ Al Dhafra appoint Marin Ion to replace sacked Karabeg
  19. ^ الظفرة الإماراتي يقيل مدربه بانيد ويعين السوري قويض
  20. ^ رحيل قويض عن تدريب الظفرة.. وجوكيكا بديلا
  21. ^ Al Dhafra appoint Rasovic
  22. ^ نادي الظفرة يتعاقد مع المدرب محمد قويض
  23. ^ البرازيلي ميكالي مدرباً للظفرة خلفاً لقويض
  24. ^ الظفرة يقيل ميكالي ويعين المغربي الإدريسي مدرباً للفريق