Hossam Hassan (Egypt) |
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Collection title
Portraits of legendary footballers
First broadcast date
2007
Abstract
Hossam Hassan is one of the best players of the Egyptian history. He holds a double record: the number of the national team selections and the number of goals scored for Egypt (170 selections, 69 goals).
He won his third African Cup of Nations, in February 2006, at the age of 39 years. With his clubs Al Ahly and Zamalek, he has an impressive track record. He was champion of Egypt 14 times.
Production companies
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COPEAM - Coproduction
- Radio Cairo - Coproduction
Primary theme
Sport and games
Credits / Cast
- Abdel-Méguid Dina - Journalist
- Mohsen Almen - Journalist
Map locations
- Egypt - Lower Egypt - Cairo
Context
Hossam Hassan
Stéphane Mourlane
Hossam Hassan has left his mark on the history of Egyptian football, both as a club player and on the national team. Born August 10, 1966 in Cairo, he was just 13 when, with his brother Ibrahim, he joined the largest Egyptian club Al Ahly. Founded in 1907 by students who wanted to use the club as a base for resisting the British presence, Al Ahly – ‘The National’ in English – is not only one of the oldest clubs in Africa, but also one of the most successful. By 1983, when Hossam Hassan first played for their A team, Al Ahly had won the Egyptian Championship 18 times since the competition began in 1949. Hossam Hassan played fourteen seasons and helped the club win eleven Egyptian Championships and the African Champions League once (1987). During this period, he left the Cairo club for two seasons in Europe, with mixed results in second rate clubs: PAOK Salonika in Greece (1990-1991) and the Swiss Neuchatel Xamax (1992-1993).
In 2000 he joined Al Ahly’s great rival, Zamalek. Since the founding of the second Cairo club in 1911, the annual derby between the two clubs is always highly charged, since usually the winner is reckoned to be the best club in Egypt. Yet Al Ahly’s supporters, the most numerous in the country, did not hold Hossam Hassan’s transfer against him. With his brother, Hossam Hassan helped Zamalek to win back the championship it had lost in 1993. Apart from two league titles, he also played a major part in Zamalek’s victory in the 2002 African Champions League. In 2004, he joined a third club, Al-Masry in Port Said. From that moment his career declined, in 2006 he signed with Tirsana on the outskirts of Cairo and the following year with Hittihad Alexandria, both modest clubs for whom he played few matches. It’s true that he was then 40 years old. In 2008, at 42, he ended his playing career and became a professional coach.
The continued popularity of Hossam Hassan, though, is largely due to his career in the national team. He played 170 matches with the "Pharaohs", scoring 69 goals. His appearance on the team marked Egypt’s return to the forefront of international football. Winners of the African Nations Cup in 1957 and 1959, the Egyptian team had been absent from the finals of this competition since 1962. Then, with Hossam Hassan in their ranks, they won the continental trophy in 1986. He was also one of the cornerstones of the squad that won the African Nations Cup in 1998 and then again in 2006. The highlight of his international career, though, was the qualifier for the 1990 World Cup. Egypt had not reached the second round since 1934. In 1990 she faced Algeria, who had done very well in both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. Arab supremacy was at stake in both matches (home and away), and not only on the football field. The first match, in Algeria, ended in a draw (0-0), so before the return match in Egypt tension was at the highest level. The Egyptians were accused of organizing a noisy wedding party in the Algerians’ hotel. The game, won by the Pharaohs, ended with a massive brawl. But the only thing the Egyptians remember is the winning goal from Hossam Hassan – elevated immediately to national hero.
