Soufiane Rahimi Rewrites Al Ain’s History with 19th Goal
Soufiane Rahimi did not just score against Al Nassr. He rewrote a chapter of Al Ain’s history.
On a charged night at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, the Moroccan forward struck his 19th goal in Asian club competition for Al Ain, stepping out alone where Asamoah Gyan and Omar Abdulrahman once stood. The goal came in a ruthless 4-0 dismantling of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in their AFC Champions League Elite opener, a statement performance wrapped around a personal milestone.
Rahimi steps out of Gyan’s shadow
Rahimi started the evening locked on 18 continental goals, tied with two of the club’s modern icons, Gyan and Abdulrahman. One finish changed everything.
His strike against Al Nassr nudged him to 19 and gave him undisputed ownership of a record that had long belonged to Gyan, the Ghanaian who lit up Asian nights in Al Ain colours and set the standard for what a foreign forward could mean to the club.
For years, Gyan’s tally stood as a reference point, a bar every new signing was measured against. Abdulrahman, the local talisman, shared that mark and symbolised a different kind of greatness. Now Rahimi sits above them both, his name alone at the top of Al Ain’s continental scoring charts.
The numbers are simple. The significance is not.
A new leading man for Asia nights
Rahimi’s rise has not been sudden; it has been steady, season by season, knockout tie by knockout tie. He has become the man Al Ain lean on when the competition badge on the sleeve changes and the stakes climb.
His influence was central to the club’s triumphant 2023/24 AFC Champions League campaign, and this latest performance against Al Nassr suggests that run was no one-off surge. A 4-0 win over a side built around Ronaldo is more than a strong start; it is a warning shot to the rest of the field.
The pressure finally told on Tuesday, not just on Al Nassr’s defence, but on the record books. With Gyan retired and Abdulrahman no longer in the squad, there is no one left to share the mantle. The record now lives with Rahimi alone, and he has time and games ahead to stretch it far beyond reach.
Every goal from this point widens the gap between eras: Gyan’s explosive spell in the UAE, Abdulrahman’s artistry, and Rahimi’s relentless, modern efficiency on the continental stage.
A record that reshapes Al Ain’s story
Gyan’s benchmark had long mirrored Al Ain’s ambitions in Asia. His goals framed a period when the club pushed to establish itself among the region’s elite. Rahimi’s breakthrough arrives in a different context: Al Ain are not just chasing respect; they are defending a recent continental crown and opening a new campaign with authority.
The Moroccan’s 19th goal is not just a statistic to be filed away. It is a marker of a shift in responsibility and expectation. Where Gyan once carried the weight of the club’s hopes in Asia, Rahimi now shoulders that burden.
And with the AFC Champions League Elite campaign only just underway, the question is no longer whether he can surpass the legends of Al Ain. He already has.
The real question is how far he intends to leave them behind.
