الرئيسية
Ahmed Hassan (Arabic: أحمد حسن) (born 2 May 1975 in Maghagha, Egypt)[1] is an Egyptian football player who plays as an attacking midfielder or on the right wing for Egyptian Premier League club Al-Ahly and the Egyptian national team.
He started his professional football career at Aswan Club in the Egyptian lower divisions. After one season there, he moved to the more successful Ismaily. He was 20 when he was selected for the first time to play in the Egyptian national team's friendly match against Ghana on 29 December 1995[2]. After his impressive performances with the Egyptian national team in the African Cup of Nations 1998, including scoring a goal from a long range shot against South Africa in the final that helped win the tournament, Hassan joined Turkish side Kocaelispor at the age of 22. In 2000, he was transferred to Denizlispor. In 2001, he joined his Egyptian international teammate Abdel Zaher El-Saqua when he moved to Gençlerbirliği. After three successful seasons with the club, during which the team twice made the Turkish Cup Final, he moved to Beşiktaş where he was a first team regular as well as a regular on the team's scoring sheet. He particularly impressed manager Jean Tigana who, despite being known for selecting younger players for his first team, still regarded the 30-year-old Hassan a key player of the squad. He stated that "Hassan is a hardworking player who is quick and talented. His only problem is not liking the team play. He wants to be free on the pitch. He is my irregular prince as he doesn't play in the team-system."[3]
[edit] RSC Anderlecht
After he was named "Best Player of the African Cup of Nations 2006"[4], Fulham, Rangers F.C., Newcastle United F.C., and Espanyol were reportedly interested in signing him. However, he chose to move to R.S.C. Anderlecht, the Belgian First Division champions, on a free transfer after he chose not to extend his contract with Beşiktaş, which ended in 2006. Hassan joined Anderlecht due to its automatic qualification to the UEFA Champions League.He has been an important part of the Anderlecht attack, setting-up and scoring goals himself. His position in the midfield was in front of Lucas Biglia and Jan Polák, just behind the strikers Serhat Akin and Nicolas Frutos. In the 2007-08 season, he stated that that season would be his last for Anderlecht. His family had already returned to Egypt, and he followed them there.
[edit] Return To Egypt
He chose to move to Egyptian club Al Ahly to end his career in Egypt. He signed a three year contract with Al Ahly as of May 2008. He scored in his first competitive match against legendary rival Zamalek, in the opening of the CAF Champions League, from a long-range free-kick.He scored his second after a week exactly and against Zamalek too from a cross from his teammate Mohamed Barakat. He scored 2 goals in the first 2 games he played.
[edit] African Cup Of Nations
Hassan has played in seven African Cup of Nations tournaments for Egypt( before the one that will held in 2010 ) , winning the tournament three times, first in 1998 and again in 2006 and finally in 2008. In the African Cup of Nations 2006, he was chosen as captain of his country and helped the team's cause with 4 goals in 6 matches, which placed him as the second top goal scorer of the tournament[4]. He was named later "Best Player of the tournament" after winning his second title and Egypt's fifth.In 2008 Ahmed Hassan Captained Egypt to their sixth African Cup of Nations victory. Now his country's most capped player ahead of the legendary Hossam Hassan, Ahmed Hassan is one of a number of players who have earned more than 100 international caps for their national team, and is currently ranked 4th in history among footballers who have earned more than 100 international caps behind Mohammad Al-Deayea of Saudi Arabia and Claudio Suarez of Mexico. With his career showing no obvious signs of fading, he could make history by becoming the first footballer to earn 200 international caps.