The attention of Sheikh Sultan Bin Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan leaves a positive impact and elevates the morale spirit
Al Ain Club flips the page of the offshore boot camp and returns to Dar Al Zain onboard a private jet
Between Rabat and Moscow… Discipline and rigorousness are the title of the morning and night work and training sessions which draws the aspects of readiness
11 goals were scored in the friendly matches… In addition to the defensive firmness before match’s kick off
“The Boss” expedition returned to the country on today’s morning on board a private jet, after the conclusion of the offshore preparatory bootcamp for the sporting season 2026-2027, which took place in Morocco and Spain. The bootcamp was characterized with discipline, concentration, and rigorousness, in line with the coaching staff’s plan to elevate the team into the best levels of readiness before the official matches’ kick off.
During the offshore bootcamp, the team implemented an integrated technical and physical program, which included morning and night training sessions, in addition to a series of trial matches of gradual level, that has been utilized by the coaching staff in boosting harmony among team players and merging the new players inside the team’s ecosystem.
The preparatory journey started on the 9th of July
Al Ain Club started its preparations for the new upcoming sporting season with an internal preparatory program, which took place during the period between the 9th to the 15th of July. It also included medical checks and physical examinations, as well as the daily training sessions under the supervision of the coaching staff.
The team’s expedition departed from the country on the 16th of July onboard a private jet heading into Morocco to start the offshore stage of the preparatory program, then heading into Spain to finish the bootcamp and play the remaining friendly matches.
The team’s bootcamp drew the continuous attention and supervision of Sheikh Sultan Bin Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Ain Sports Club, who was keen to follow up the first team’s preparations in Spain and Morocco, as well as the U23 team, which had a positive impact on elevating the morale spirit and boosting the vibes and discipline.
The team’s list of players who departed with the club’s expedition that took off to the offshore bootcamp included the following players: “Khalid Eisa Mohammed Bilal Saeed Al Mesmari (who is the team’s Emirati goalkeeper), Mohammed Saeed Busanda Ahmed Al Falahi (who is the team’s Emirati goalkeeper), Hassan Sani Muhammed (who is the team’s Nigerian goalkeeper), Abdullah Al Humaisi (who is the team’s Emirati goalkeeper), Amadou Saidou Niang (who is the team’s Senegalese center back defender), Ramy Hisham Abdel Aziz Mostafa Rabia (who is the team’s Egyptian center back defender), Marcel Ratnik (who is the Slovenian center back defender), Ismail Okoboti (who is the team’s Nigerian center back defender), Yahya Ben Khaleq (who is the team’s Moroccan center back defender), Djordje Skoko (who is the team’s Serbian center back defender), Valentino Lazaro (who is the team’s Austrian right winger), Adis Jašić (who is the team’s Austrian right back defender), Rafael Vela Rodrigues (who is the team’s Portuguese left back defender), Erik Jorgens de Menezes (who is the team’s Brazilian left back defender), Matías Damián Palacios (who is the team’s Argentine central midfielder), Abdoul Karim Traoure (who is the team’s Malian defensive midfielder), Mohammed Abbas Ahmed Abdulla Hassan Al Blooshi (who is the team’s Emirati attacking midfielder), Juan Schlickmann (who is the team’s Brazilian central midfielder), Hazem Mohammad Abdullah Abbas (who is the team’s Emirati right winger), Joshua Udoh (who is the team’s Nigerian defensive midfielder), Hamid Mohammed (who is the team’s Ghanian central midfielder), Ibrahima Junior Ndiaye (who is the team’s Senegalese right winger), Alejandro Sebastián Romero Gamarra, nicknamed Kaku (who is the team’s Argentine attacking midfielder), Jonatas da Anunciação Santos, also known as Jonatas (who is the team’s Brazilian let winger), El Houssien Rahmi (who is the team’s Moroccan forward player), Baba Ben Bello Man Ilou (who is the team’s Cameroonian forward player), as well as Giorgos Giakoumakis (who is the team’s Greek center forward player).
The international triad, Soufiane Rahimi, who is the international Moroccan forward player for Al Ain first football team, Ramy Hisham Abdel Aziz Mostafa Rabia, who is the Egyptian center back defender for Al Ain first football team, Alejandro Sebastián Romero Gamarra, (nicknamed Kaku), who had a resting period after playing with his team’s national football team in the 2026 World Cup, then he joined the team’s expedition during the second stage of the offshore bootcamp in Spain.
Marcos André Paulino Maia, who is the Brazilian defender for Al Ain first football team, joined the offshore bootcamp of the U23 team, then he joined his teammates and participated in the preparatory program.
The new deals
The offshore bootcamp witnessed the joining of new deals which whom the Club announced the signing of a new contracts in preparation to the new sporting season, who are Djordje Skoko, who is the Serbian center back defender, Valentino Lando Lazaro, who is the Austrian right midfielder for Al Ain first football team, Baba Bello Ilou, who is the Cameroonian center forward player for Al Ain first football team, and Giorgos Giakoumakis, who is the team’s Greek center forward player, as well as Marcos André Paulino Maia, who is the Brazilian center back defender, who joined the offshore bootcamp in its first stage in Morocco.
The preparatory period represented an opportunity for the coaching staff to integrate the new players and boost harmony and understanding among them and among the team players.
5 matches and 1 goal
During the offshore preparatory program, Al Ain Club played 5 friendly matches, in which they scored 11 goals and received 4 goals in its net, where they claimed two victories, two draws, and one defeat.
The team started its matches by claiming victory with the score of 6-0 over Morocco’s Espoir Deroua, then claiming a positive draw of 2-2 vs Spain’s Elche Club de Fútbol, then claiming a positive draw of 1-1 vs Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Club, then sustaining a defeat over France’s Toulouse FC with the score of 1-0.
The powerful conclusion vs Spain’s Club Atlético Osasuna
The match vs Club Atlético Osasuna on yesterday’s evening (8th of August) represented the final stage in the first team’s preparatory program, where Al Ain Club managed to claim victory with 2 goals against nothing, the two goals were scored by Soufiane Rahimi, who is the team’s international Moroccan forward player, and Jonatas da Anunciação Santos, who is the team’s Brazilian left winger.
The match granted the coaching staff an important test in the conclusion of the offshore stage, where the streak of matches has been concluded with a victory and a clean sheet in net, then the team returned to the country to finalize its preparations for the new season’s kick off.
Baba Bello Ilou assumes top position on the top scorers list of players
The five matches witnessed five player scoring the team’s goals, on forefront of Al Ain Club’s list of top scorers was Baba Bello Ilou, who is the Cameroonian center forward player for Al Ain first football team, during the offshore bootcamp with 5 goals, when he scored three goals in the first match, then added one goal vs Elche Club de Fútbol and another one goal vs Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Club.
Giorgos Giakoumakis, who is the team’s Greek center forward player, Jonatas da Anunciação Santos, who is the team’s Brazilian left winger, scored two goals, while Soufiane Rahimi, who is the team’s Moroccan forward player, Amadou Saidou Niang, who is the team’s Senegalese center back defender, scored one goal for each one of them.
The numbers reflect the diversity of choices on the forward line of play during the preparatory stage, where the team’s 11 goals were distributed on five players, while the scoring ratio reached 2.2 goals in a single match, against 0.8 received goals.
With the conclusion of the offshore bootcamp and the return of Dar Al Zayed, “The Boss” enters the final stage of its preparations to the new season’s kick off, where they are getting ready to start their journey to defend its golden title in the local Pro League, then they will be hosted by Baniyas football team on the green pitch of the latter team, during the competitions of the first round of the tournament, on the 16th of the current month of August.
Al Ain Club enters the new season with big ambitions, after they have been crowned as the champions of the past season with no defeats, while the team is ambitious to utilize the preparatory program and the work they have accomplished during the international and offshore stages to reach the highest degrees of readiness with the official kick off.
6 matches for the U23 Club
In parallel with the first team’s program, Al Ain U23 team played 6 friendly matches during the offshore bootcamp in Spain, vs Murcia B, U20 Brighton, Villarreal Club de Fútbol C, U21 West Ham United, U21 Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid B.
The team claimed 5 victories against 1 defeat, scoring 15 goals and received 6 goals in its net, while Mohammed Debo assumed the top position on the team’s top scorers during the program with 6 goals.
