Soufiane Rahimi did not just score against Al Nassr. He rewrote a chapter of Al Ain’s history.
On a charged night at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the opposite side and the AFC Champions League Elite campaign just getting underway, the Moroccan forward stepped out of the shadow of a club legend. His goal in a ruthless 4-0 win took him to 19 strikes in Asian competition for Al Ain, lifting him clear of Asamoah Gyan and Omar Abdulrahman as the club’s all-time leading scorer on the continent.
Rahimi steps out of Gyan’s shadow
Rahimi came into the tie locked on 18 goals with Gyan and Abdulrahman, two names that still carry weight in Al Ain’s modern story. One more was all he needed. Against this level of opposition, on this stage, it felt like the perfect stage for a statement.
The chance came, and he took it. With that finish, the 30-year-old moved to 19, claiming the record outright and nudging Gyan’s long-standing mark into the archives. For years, the Ghanaian had stood as the benchmark for Al Ain’s continental ambitions, his scoring feats a reference point for any forward wearing the shirt. Now Rahimi sits alone at the top of that list.
The numbers are simple. The significance is not.
Gyan’s spell in the UAE turned him into a cult figure, his goals powering Al Ain across Asia and cementing his status as one of the club’s great imports. Abdulrahman, the local hero, provided the artistry that defined an era. Both are now out of the picture – Gyan retired, Abdulrahman no longer in the squad – and Rahimi has become the face of Al Ain’s new continental push.
A new leader for a new campaign
The win over Al Nassr did more than deliver a personal milestone. It sent a message. Beating a side fronted by Ronaldo by four goals in an AFC Champions League Elite opener underlined that Al Ain are not content with last season’s glory; they intend to stay among the heavyweights.
Rahimi is central to that ambition. Season by season, his influence has grown. He scores, he leads, he carries the weight of expectation that once fell on Gyan’s shoulders. His record now sits above two of the most celebrated names in Al Ain’s Asian history, and the campaign is only just beginning.
The context matters. This is a club that lifted the continental trophy in 2023/24. This is a player who helped drive that run and now has the platform to stretch his record with every match in this new format. Every goal from here widens the gap, turns a broken record into a towering one.
For Al Ain, Gyan’s tally had long represented a golden standard, a reminder of what peak Al Ain looked like in Asia. Rahimi’s 19th does not erase that legacy. It builds on it, pushing the club’s story into a new phase with a different talisman at the forefront.
The question now is no longer whether he can catch the past. It is how far ahead of it he intends to run.
