# 2022–23 Al Ain FC season

The 2022–23 Al Ain Football Club season was the club's 55th in existence and their 48th consecutive season in the top-level football league in the UAE.

## Club
### Technical staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Serhii Rebrov |
| Assistant coach | Vicente Gómez Ahmed Abdullah |
| Assistant coach and analyst | Alberto Bosch |
| Fitness coach | Jesus Pinedo Alessandro Sarrocco |
| Goalkeeping coach | Radu Lefter Dan Zdrinca |
| Physiotherapist | Felipe Perseu |
| U-21 team head coach | Ghazi Fahad |
| Team Manager | Ahmed Al Shamsi |
| First and U21 team supervisor | Abdullah Al Shamsi |
Last updated: 18 July 2021 Source:

### Board of directors

| Office | Name |
| President | Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan |
| Vice President Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Ain SCC | Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan |
| Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Ain SCC Chairman of the Executive Committee | Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed |
| Chairman of Board of Directors | Matar Al Darmaki |
| Vice Chairman of Board of Directors | Khaled Al Dhaheri |
| Board of Directors Member | Matar Al Dhaheri |
| Board of Directors Member | Salem Al Jneibi |
| Board of Directors Member | Majid Al Owais |
Last updated: 25 May 2022 Source: Al Ain Club

## Players
### First Team

| No | Position | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Mohammed Abo Sandah | United Arab Emirates |
| 2 | MF | El Mehdi El Moubarik | Morocco |
| 3 | DF | Kouame Autonne | United Arab Emirates |
| 6 | MF | Yahia Nader | United Arab Emirates |
| 7 | FW | Caio Canedo | United Arab Emirates |
| 8 | MF | Mohammed Abbas $^{U21}$ | United Arab Emirates |
| 9 | FW | Kodjo Laba | Togo |
| 10 | MF | Andriy Yarmolenko | Ukraine |
| 11 | DF | Bandar Al-Ahbabi (captain) | United Arab Emirates |
| 12 | GK | Sultan Al-Mantheri | United Arab Emirates |
| 13 | MF | Ahmed Barman | United Arab Emirates |
| 14 | FW | Sampson Agyapong | Ghana |
| 15 | DF | Erik | Brazil |
| 16 | DF | Tin Jedvaj | Croatia |
| 17 | GK | Khalid Eisa (3rd captain) | United Arab Emirates |
| 18 | MF | Khalid Al-Balochi | United Arab Emirates |
| 20 | MF | Matías Palacios | Argentina |
| 21 | FW | Soufiane Rahimi | Morocco |
| 22 | MF | Saeed Ahmed | United Arab Emirates |
| 23 | DF | Mohamed Ahmed (vice-captain) | United Arab Emirates |
| 26 | MF | Ahmed Al-Qatesh $^{U21}$ | United Arab Emirates |
| 29 | DF | Omar Saeed | United Arab Emirates |
| 34 | DF | Rafael Pereira | Brazil |
| 42 | MF | Jonathan Santos | Brazil |
| 44 | DF | Saeed Juma | United Arab Emirates |
| 45 | MF | Khalifa Obaid $^{U21}$ | United Arab Emirates |
| 72 | FW | Mohamed Awadalla $^{U21}$ | Sudan |
| 74 | DF | Adham Khalid $^{U21}$ | Egypt |
| 78 | MF | Falah Waleed | United Arab Emirates |
| 86 | DF | Danylo Udod $^{U21}$ (on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk) | Ukraine |
| 88 | MF | Naser Al-Shikali | United Arab Emirates |
| 90 | FW | Eisa Khalfan $^{U21}$ | United Arab Emirates |
| 92 | GK | Saif Al-Mazmi $^{U21}$ | United Arab Emirates |
| 98 | DF | Salem Abdullah | United Arab Emirates |

### Unregistered players

| No | Position | Player | Nation |
| 5 | DF | Danilo Arboleda | Colombia |

### New contracts

| Date | Pos | No. | Player | Ref. | Notes |
| 9 February 2023 | FW | 9 | Kodjo Laba | | 2026 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | No. | Name | From | Type | Transfer window | Team |
| 30 June 2022 | MF | — | Falah Waleed | Khor Fakkan | Loan return | Summer | First team |
| 30 June 2022 | FW | 99 | Jamal Maroof | Khor Fakkan | Loan return | Summer | First team |
| 30 June 2022 | DF | — | Mohanad Salem | Ittihad Kalba | Loan return | Summer | First team |
| 30 June 2022 | GK | — | Ibrahim Al-Kaebi | Al Urooba | Loan return | Summer | First team |
| 30 June 2022 | MF | — | Mohammed Jamal | Al Jazira | Loan return | Summer | First team |
| 13 July 2022 | FW | — | Andriy Yarmolenko | West Ham United | Free transfer | Summer | First team |
| 14 July 2022 | MF | — | Matías Palacios | Basel | Transfer | Summer | First team |

### Loans in

| No. | Pos | Player | From | Start date | End date | Ref. |
| — | DF | Tin Jedvaj | Lokomotiv Moscow | 20 December 2022 | End of Season | |

### Out

| Date | Position | No. | Name | To | Fee | Team |
| 1 July 2022 | MF | 10 | Cristian Guanca | Al Shabab | End of loan | First team |
| 1 July 2022 | GK | — | Ibrahim Al-Kaebi | Emirates | Free transfer | First team |
| 14 July 2022 | MF | 25 | Ali Al-Balochi | Al Bataeh | Free transfer | Reserve U21 |
| 18 July 2022 | FW | 8 | Ali Eid | Al Dhafra | Contract termination | First team |
| 18 July 2022 | MF | 14 | Rayan Yaslam | Sharjah | Contract termination | First team |
| 18 July 2022 | MF | — | Mohammed Jamal | Al Jazira | Contract termination | First team |
| 31 July 2022 | DF | — | Saeed Al-Menhali | | End of contract | Al Ain |
| 2 August 2022 | DF | 20 | Yassine Meriah | Espérance de Tunis | Contract termination | First team |
| 3 August 2022 | FW | 99 | Jamal Maroof | Dibba | Contract termination | First team |
| 1 September 2022 | DF | 2 | Saoud Al-Mahri | Al Arabi | Free transfer | Reserve U21 |
| 28 September 2022 | MF | — | Andrija Radovanovic | Hatta | End of contract | Reserve U21 |

### Loans out

| No. | Pos | Name | To | Start date | End date |
| 30 | MF | Mohammed Khalfan | Al Bataeh | 18 July 2022 | End of Season |
| 27 | MF | Sultan Al-Shamsi | Al Nasr | 10 January 2023 | End of Season |
| 4 | DF | Mohammed Shaker | Al Nasr | 8 February 2023 | End of Season |
| 33 | DF | Gianluca Santini $^{U21}$ | Masfout | | End of Season |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Pro-League | 2 September 2022 | 12 May 2023 | Matchday 1 | 2nd | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 67 | 31 | +36 | 061.54 |
| President's Cup | 8 December 2022 | 28 April 2023 | Round of 32 | Runners–up | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 066.67 |
| League Cup | 12 December 2022 | 27 May 2023 | Quarter-finals | Runners–up | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 020.00 |
| UAE Super Cup | 25 February 2023 | 25 February 2023 | Final | Runners–up | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 82 | 38 | +44 | 055.26 |
Last updated: 27 May 2023 Source: Soccerway

### Pro League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Shabab Al Ahli (C) | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 53 | 25 | +28 | 57 | Qualification for AFC Champions League play off round |
| 2 | Al Ain | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 67 | 31 | +36 | 54 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Al Wahda | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 48 | 26 | +22 | 52 | |
| 4 | Al Wasl | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 53 | 32 | +21 | 47 | |
| 5 | Al Jazira | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 50 | 39 | +11 | 46 | |
* ↑ since Al Ain won the 2021–22 UAE Pro League, they qualified directly to the AFC Champions League group stage meanwhile this seasons league champions will qualify for the play-off round.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 12 May 2023. Source: Soccerway

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | D | W | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | D | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | W | D | W | W |
| Position | 7 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### UAE Super Cup
## Statistics
### Clean sheets

As of 19 April 2023
| Rank | No. | Player | Pro League | League Cup | President's Cup | Super Cup | Total |
| 1 | 17 | Khalid Eisa | 7 | 1 | 5 | | 13 |
| 2 | 1 | Mohammed Abo Sandah | | | 1 | | 1 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 27 May 2023
Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname when total goals are equal.
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Player | Pro-League | President's Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 9 | FW | Kodjo Laba | 28 | 3 | 0 | 31 |
| 2 | 21 | FW | Soufiane Rahimi | 11 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| 3 | 10 | FW | Andriy Yarmolenko | 11 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 4 | 7 | FW | Caio Canedo | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | 15 | DF | Erik Jorgens | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | 42 | MF | Jonathan Santos | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | 11 | MF | Bandar Al-Ahbabi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 33 | DF | Kouame Autonne | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | 20 | MF | Matías Palacios | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | 16 | DF | Tin Jedvaj | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 78 | MF | Falah Waleed | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 5 | DF | Danilo Arboleda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals (from the opponents) | Own goals (from the opponents) | Own goals (from the opponents) | Own goals (from the opponents) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 67 | 9 | 6 | 82 |

### Assists

As of 17 May 2023
| No. | Player | Pro-League | President's Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 21 | Soufiane Rahimi | 11 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 | Bandar Al-Ahbabi | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 9 | Kodjo Laba | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 15 | Erik Menezes | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 | Andriy Yarmolenko | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 33 | Kouame Autonne | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 44 | Saeed Juma | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Matías Palacios | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Caio Canedo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 90 | Eisa Khalfan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 42 | Jonathan Santos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Yahia Nader | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Khalid Al-Balochi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Saeed Ahmed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | 48 | 3 | 4 | 55 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Against | Result | Date | Round |
| Kodjo Laba$^4$ | Al Dhafra | 7–0 (H) | 10 September 2022 | 2 |
$^4$ – Player scored four goals.