Aberdeen’s Palestine star prays for love after tongue in cheek celebration saw him become Charleroi public enemy no.1
Oday Dabbagh shushed the Charleroi supporters in the heat of his celebration moment.
Now the Palestinian is pining for Pittodrie cheers after arriving at Aberdeen on loan. Dabbagh spent much of this season tormented by the boos of his own fans as scapegoat for the club’s striking struggles. The 26-year-old hit back after ending a goal drought with a last-minute leveller against Standard Liege in November.
Dabbagh went direct to his critics in the Charleroi faithful with a finger to his lips. And he followed up hours later by posting a picture of his gesture on social media. That was the beginning of the end for Dabbagh, who made four more brief outings off the bench in Belgium before Dons swooped.
In the first of those, Dabbagh was sent off just three minutes after coming on as a substitute. Yet relations with supporters had sunk to such a low level that he got no sympathy from them despite the harsh nature of the dismissal.
His loan exit to the Scottish Premiership was seen as the ideal solution for a popular and hard-working teammate. Fellow Charleroi forward Nikola Stulic reckoned being the perennial late substitute had become a source of frustration from Dabbagh before his outburst.
Serbian cap Stulic said: “I hadn’t seen his celebration against Standard, because I had just hit the post for my missed opportunity. But, you know, we have a lot of pressure, so I can understand his reaction.
“It’s not easy to go on every time five minutes before the end of the match. We react badly because there are all these emotions that invade us. But I live near him, Oday is a very good friend. I can tell you that he is an excellent guy on a human level. And, against Standard, he brought us a point.”
Dabbagh arrived in 2023 with