Mohamed Aboutrika (born November 7, 1979) is an Egyptian footballer. Aboutrika plays as a second striker and as an attacking midfielder for the Egyptian team Al-Ahly and the Egyptian national football team.
He was nominated for the 2006 CAF African Footballer of the Year award, and he came second in the 2008 African Footballer of The Year award. It is said that he is one of Egypt's most valuable players. He helped his team Al-Ahly to get the bronze medal in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2006. He also won with the Egyptian national team the African Cup of Nations in 2006. Aboutrika scored the winning goal to help Egypt win the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
Aboutrika's career
2004In the first part of Egyptian league 2003-2004, Aboutrika scored 3 goals for Tersana. He was offered a position in Egypt's and one of Africa's top football teams, Al-Ahly. He scored 11 goals in his first and only 13 appearances with Al-Ahly in 2003-2004 league, coming in the second place between top scorers in the Egyptian League with 14 goals.
Since 2004 when he joined Al-Ahly Club, Aboutrika has scored 9 goals in the Egypt Derby against Zamalek, 1 less than the record 10 goals by Emad Moteab.
Aboutrika's efforts with Ahly led to attention from the Egyptian national team, and he debuted against Trinidad and Tobago in a friendly match before the World Cup 2006 qualifiers on March 31, 2004 in Arab Contractors Stadium. His debut game ended 2-1 for the Egyptians. He started as an attacker, but was found to play better when he played his normal position behind the attackers in the midfield position. Aboutrika scored his first national goal in this game. He scored 5 goals in his first 6 appearances with Egypt.
2005In 2005, Al-Ahly regained the Egyptian League Championship after four years out of top position, Aboutrika came in the third place between topscorers in the Egyptian League with 9 goals, and helped his team mate Emad Moteab to be the top scorer of competition. Also in 2005, Aboutrika played a great role in Al-Ahly victory of the 2005 CAF Champions League, he scored an amazing goal in the final with an outrageous effort from 30 yards out against Étoile Sportive du Sahel of Tunisia in a game ended 3-0 for Al-Ahly.
Al-Ahly qualified for 2005 FIFA Club World Championship but finished last, Aboutrika told FIFA.com the reason saying: "Our problem was that we lost our form, for some reason we could not play like we had before arriving in Japan".
Before Japan, with Aboutrika on-board, Al-Ahly was about to make a new world record for the longest winning-streak for a football club. Some have commented that the combination with Emad Moteab and Mohamed Barakat formed the most formidable triangle in African Soccer, and they were given the moniker of "The Bermuda Triangle".[citation needed] The Angolan striker Flávio Amado replaces Barakat sometimes, playing a great role in forming this dangerous triangle.
2006He proved to be his international team's trump card en route to victory in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in February, when he scored two important goals against Libya and Ivory Coast. He was the winning goal assistant, in the Semi-final match against Senegal when Amr Zaki scored in the 80th minute. He was very dominant in that game, but his accurate shot hit the bar. In the final match, Aboutrika scored the decisive penalty in the shootout which gave Egypt the title.
Aboutrika led Al-Ahly to the African Champions title but they lost 2006 CAF Champions League for the second successive time in November 2006. He was the top scorer of the competition with 8 goals, and scored the final match winning goal against CS Sfaxien in the 92nd minute.
He participated also with Al-Ahly in winning the CAF Super Cup against FAR Rabat of Morocco, days after the Africa Cup of Nations in February.
Locally, he got the Egyptian Premier League in June when he was the top scorer by 18 goals, and won Egypt Cup, then the Egyptian Super Cup in July when he scored the winning goal against ENPPI in the 92nd minute despite having suffered an injury in the first half.
Japanese newspapers nominated Aboutrika to be one of the best players in 2006 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, the last tournament in Aboutrika's great year. Al-Ahly was one of the African representatives, and the first team ever to be qualified two successive times to this championship, and the first African team to win a medal in that competition.
In the opening match of the tournament against Auckland City FC of New Zealand on Dec 10th 2006, Aboutrika helped Al-Ahly to secure and book a semi-final date with Internacional of Brazil. Al-Ahly won 2-0 easily, and Aboutrika capped a fine display by stroking a superbly flighted free-kick over the wall scoring the second goal for his team. As well as netting with his delightful right-foot effort, Aboutrika was at the heart of most his side's best moves, dictating the rhythm with his skill and vision.
In the semi-finals, Al-Ahly faced Brazilian Internacional on December 13, 2006, and Aboutrika played a good game, but his accurate shot hit the Brazilian right-hand post to deprive his team from a deserved draw. Al-Ahly lost the match 2-1, but proved a good efficiency, yet the ball refused to be netted in many available chances to score in Brazilian goalkeeper.'Match Report'
Al-Ahly faced Club América of Mexico, for the third place, and Aboutrika gave Al-Ahly the lead with an amazing free-kick over the wall, ending the first half 1-0 for Al-Ahly. In the second half, America made the draw, but as usual, Aboutrika appeared in the 79th minute with a skilled ball, he showed yet again why he is on the shortlist for the African player of the year. After surging out of midfield and finding Flavio Amado with a pinpoint pass, the mercurial playmaker latched on to the Angolan's return ball and calmly slotted the ball past Mexican goalkeeper for his third goal of the tournament. Al-Ahly won the third place, after Aboutrika lifted his team to an unprecedented result for the Egyptian club or any African outfit. Personally, he became the top scorer of tournament by 3 goals in 3 matches.
Aboutrika won all the competitions he participated in this year, and got the bronze medal for Al-Ahly in 2006 FIFA Club World Cup. He was the top scorer in three competitions, which are 2006 FIFA Club World Cup with 3 goals, Egyptian Premier League with 18 goals and 2006 CAF Champions League with 8 goals. Aboutrika scored in other competitions, and made brilliant assistants to strikers.
African Footballer of the Year 2006 Nomination
Aboutrika, who is Egypt's newest idol according to the FIFA.com expression, was nominated to win the 2006 CAF African Footballer of the Year award along with Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and FC Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o. The other nominees for the honour were Ghana international midfielder Michael Essien, who plays for English Giants Chelsea, and Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu, who has twice grabbed the award. Aboutrika said in November 2006: "I would love to be nominated for the CAF Best Player award. That would make 2006 a very special year!".
Aboutrika was the only African based player between nominees, but he is also the only one who made an achievement for his national team this year by winning African Cup of Nations 2006. Aboutrika's brace in 2006 FIFA Club World Cup and his dazzling performances throughout the season made him a serious contender for the CAF African Footballer of the Year award (as well as the BBC one) and secured his standing as Egypt's most popular personality. He did not win the prize but got second place and later was given "best inter-club player" and "best player in the CAF Champions League."
"Aboutrika has won the highest prize any person can achieve, that is the love of the people," sports columnist Hassan Mistikawi wrote in the top-selling state-owned Al-Ahram daily.
Al-Ahly Portuguese coach Manuel José de Jesus describes Aboutrika as "the best football player in Africa". He said that Aboutrika has more and more skills that did not appear in Japan. He said: "Aboutrika didn't introduce all what he has in FIFA Club World Cup 2006, but he got the top scorer title and helped leading his team to the third place". José sees Aboutrika as one of the best players he ever trained. He assured this meaning saying: "Aboutrika is priceless for us. I can't imagine my team without him".
2007In 2007, Al-Ahly won the Egyptian Premier League (2006–2007) for the third successive season. Aboutrika scored 7 goals for his team, although he was injured. Al-Ahly won the Egypt Cup 2007 for the second successive time. Aboutrika was the top goalscorer of the competition with 4 goals. He scored a double kick memorable goal against Tala'ea El-Gaish SC in the 8-round game which ended 3-1 for Al-Ahly. In the final, Al-Ahly faced his rival Zamalek SC. Aboutrika made a one neck-saving equalizer in the last 2 minutes on July 2, 2007 in the Egypt Cup resulting in extra-time after tying 2-2. After El-Zamalek grabbed their third in the first half of extra-time, Aboutrika dazzeled the stands with two great balls, one an assisted cross over the whites' defense to Osama Hosny to score the equalizer in second half of extra-time in the first seconds of the game and within a minute, he surged between the Zamalek's midfield and passed two Zamalek players before providing an accurate through pass to Ahmad Sedik on the wing who went through on goal and assisted again for Osama Hosny for the late winner and holding high the Egyptian Cup. After that, Al-Ahly won the Egyptian Super Cup 2007 for the third successive time, through shootouts, after tying 1-1 with Ismaily.
In 2007 CAF Champions League, Aboutrika scored 4 goals for Al-Ahly until now, to raise his African goals to the number 15. Al-Ahly faced Étoile Sportive du Sahel of Tunisia in the final match. Al-Ahly was having the chance to be the first team in the World to reach FIFA Club World Cup three successive times, and the first team in Africa to win CAF Champions League three successive times. However, the two legs ended seeing Étoile Sportive du Sahel of Tunisia lifting the cup.
He won the title Best Player in Egypt for 2007 the fourth successive time after 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 setting a new Egyptian record.
2008African Cup of Nations 2008
In 2008, Aboutrika scored 4 goals for Egypt in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. He scored the winning goal against Cameroon in the final match, helping Egypt to win the African Cup of Nations for the second consecutive tournament. Aboutrika also scored a goal in the semi-final against Ivory Coast, and scored twice against Sudan in Egypt's group stage match.
Aboutrika scored a goal in the final match. In the previous tournament in 2006, he scored the latest decisive penalty shootout in the final match against Ivory Coast to give Egypt the cup. With his team Al-Ahly of Egypt, Aboutrika was the hero of final matches again, through scoring a goal in the final match second leg both 2006 and 2005 CAF Champions League helping his team lift the continental cup.
Aboutrika nominated the best player in the in Ghana 2008 final match.
FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers
After the friendly match against Argentina, Aboutrika had an injury which deprived him from being a member along the national team in the first 4 matches played in June, in FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers. He marked his national return against Congo DR in Kinshasa on September 7, 2008 scoring the winning goal for Egypt, to secure the Pharaohs' place in the second round of Qualifications. He scored another goal in his second match in the qualifiers against Djibouti.
Al-Ahly
Aboutrika has rehealed from injury in August, after missing the group stage start of 2008 CAF Champions League with his team Al-Ahly. He marked his first participation in the group stage scoring the winning goal for Al-Ahly on 93rd minute against Dynamos F.C. of Zimbabwe in a 8 round game ended 2-1 for the Egyptian side. On August 30, he helped Al-Ahly to grab the 3 points from Zimbabwe, after making the winning goal, scored by his favourite teammate Mohamed Barakat. Al-Ahly achieved 1-0 win. On September 14, Aboutrika scored the second goal for Al-Ahly against the rivals Zamalek SC of Egypt, in a group game ended 2-2.
Aboutrika scored again in the final group match against ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast, a game ended 2-2 as Aboutrika netted the first goal for Al-Ahly. A draw sealed first place in Group A for Al-Ahly with 12 points from six matches while Dynamos of Zimbabwe joined them in the semi-finals of the 3.5-million-dollar competition.
Al Ahly of Egypt clashed with Enyimba International F.C. of Nigeria in the semi-final, the first leg of which was held on October 5 in Aba, Nigeria, and ended with a draw 0-0. The second leg held on 18 October in Cairo and ended 1-0 for Al-Ahly.
Al Ahly faced Coton Sport FC de Garoua from Cameroon in the final, the first leg of which was held on November 2 and ended 2-0 for the Egyptian side. Al Ahly drew 2-2 with Coton Sport in Cameroon to complete a 4-2 aggregate victory and lift the CAF Champions League trophy for a record sixth time; a result which ensured they will compete at the FIFA Club World Cup for the third time in four years.
BBC African Footballer of the Year 2008
Mohamed Aboutrika has been crowned the 2008 BBC African Footballer of the Year. He won after taking more than half of the total ballot.
Mohamed Aboutrika has been nominated for the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2008 due to his performance with the Egyptian National Team as well as Al-Ahly. Mohamed Aboutrika has been nomianted alongside teammate, Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic F.C., Egypt), Didier Drogba (Chelsea F.C., Cote d' Ivoire), Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona, Cameroon), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal F.C., Togo).
African Footballer of the Year 2008 Nomination
Mohamed Aboutrika (Al-Ahly, Egypt), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, Togo), Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic, Egypt), Didier Drogba (Chelsea F.C., Côte d'Ivoire) and Michael Essien (Chelsea F.C., Ghana) make up the shortlist for the Glo-CAF African Footballer of the Year across the world.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria, announced the final shortlist of categories for the Glo-CAF Awards 2008. The final three for the title was decided following votes from the head coaches of the 53 national associations affiliated to CAF.
For the topmost honour, Glo-CAF Player of the Year across the world, the contenders are Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo), Michael Essien (Chelsea and Ghana) and Mohamed Aboutrika (Al-Ahly and Egypt).
The shortlist for the Glo-CAF Best Player on the Continent are Mohamed Aboutrika (Al-Ahly, Egypt), Ahmed Hassan (Al-Ahly, Egypt), Flavio Amado (Al-Ahly, Angola).
The winner of the two categories will be announced at the awards gala on February 10, in Lagos, Nigeria.
2009Confederations Cup 2009
Aboutrika was a member in Egypt football national team line-up in 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Egypt falls in Group B along with Brazil, Italy and USA.
Egypt started with Brazil on June 15, a game ended 4-3 for the Brazilian side. Aboutrika assisted Egypt's two goals, to his team mate Mohamed Zidan who scored twice.
The Italian sports journalist Gabriele Marcotti has also been highly impressed with Aboutrika's performance against Brazil, and praised Aboutrika's career with football in general.
“ He is possibly the greatest footballer in the history of the world with a bachelor's diploma in philosophy hanging on the wall of his sitting room. He is arguably the best footballer on Earth not playing his trade in Europe or South America. and Does staying in Egypt make him gutless and unambitious because he won't measure himself against the world's best on a regular basis? Or, in fact, should he be admired for remaining loyal to his homeland, simply being happy with what he has achieved and not feeling the need to chase the glamour and millions of the Premier League or La Liga?. ”
Egypt faced Italy on June 18, a game ended with a victory 1-0 for Egypt. Aboutrika assisted Egypt's goal, to his team mate Mohamed Soliman "Homos" who scored with a header.
FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers
On June 7, Aboutrika scored in Egypt's world cup qualifier against Algeria in Algeria but Egypt lost 3-1.
On July 4, Aboutrika played in Egypt's world cup qualifier against Rwanda in Egypt, helping the Egyptians win 3-0, and scored the first and the third goal, making the Egyptian team second after Algeria, in their group. Aboutrika reached his fifth goal in FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers.
2012After the Port Said Stadium clashes, on February 1, 2012, Aboutrika decided to retire from professional football, along with Emad Motaeb and Mohamed Barakat, then he decided to get back to football.. Around a week later, the Egyptian Premier League had been cancelled. Aboutrika had finished the uncompleted campaign with 4 goals in 14 games. On May 14, 2012. Ahly were down 1-0 at home to Stade Malien in a second leg CAF Champions League match and were down 2-0 on aggregate. Aboutrika was subbed on in the 42nd minute for Mohamed Shawky and in the second half, he scored his first every CAF Champions League hat-trick, 2 of which were scored in the last 8 minutes of the match. He scored the first from a wonderfully curled free-kick from 28 yards out. He then scored the second from a penalty in the 82nd minute. Finally, he blasted the third from into the top right corner from 12 yards out to get the hat-trick, complete the comeback, and secure Al-Ahly a place in the 2012 CAF Champions League group stage.
"Sympathize with Gaza"
After scoring a goal in Egypt's 3-0 over Sudan in the 2008 African Cup of Nations Aboutrika removed his jersey to show a T-shirt reading "Sympathize with Gaza". He was protesting against Israel's 10-day blockade of Gaza. He was given a yellow card for breaking FIFA's rule against displaying political slogans during play, and was said to face possible further sanctions, but finally CAF made no punishments.
Aboutrika initially did not want to discuss the issue, but he broke his silence and spoke exclusively Al Jazeera's Carrie Brown. He said that his action was a personal statement from himself, as he feels much sympathy for the children of Gaza Strip who are under siege. He feels sorry for their starving and suffering, and has many worries about their safety. Aboutrika affirmed for the Egyptian Football Federation that he is responsible for any problems appearing on surface. In the months and years since the Carrie Brown/Aboutrika interview, much has been made as to the true meanings of Aboutrika's statement.Some Arab commentators describes this yellow card as a 'honourable punishment' for any athlete. In Gaza, Palestinian people went out, raising Aboutrika's photos thanking him and appreciating his act. The same scene was replied after the final match, when Aboutrika scored the winning goal for Egypt, many Palestinians went out to celebrate the victory and singing for Aboutrika. Al-Hilal club in the Gaza Strip made an honouring ceremony for Aboutrika where youth team players lift flags reading "Palestine loves Aboutrika ", "Aboutrika is my idol", "Aboutrika, the humanitarian player..Gaza won't forget you" and "Aboutrika, an example of freedom and dignity". Youth team players were wearing Aboutrika 's No22.
In Praise of Mohamed Aboutrika
It was 76 minutes and 41 seconds into the 2008 African Cup of Nations final match between Egypt and Cameroon when Mohamed Zidane beats defender Rigobert Song to the ball and squares across the goal to Mohamed Aboutrika who calmly maneuvers the ball beneath Cameroon’s diving keeper to score the match-winning goal. This goal cemented Aboutrika’s place as the ‘superman’ of Egypt’s footballing history, was followed by his trademark celebration: dropping to his knees and touching his forehead to the ground in symbolic prayer. Aboutrika’s exploits are also admired outside Egypt. In 2008, BBC readers named him African Footballer of the Year, and CAF named him (or shafted him as, depending on your point of view) to the 2nd best African player in their African Footballer of the Year selection (the same year Egypt and Al Ahly took National Team and Club of the Year, respectively). But Aboutrika is also a hero off the field.Mohamed Aboutrika began his career at Tersana football club in Egypt’s second division. In the middle of the 2003-2004 season, Aboutrika sealed a move to Egypt’s most popular and most successful team in the midseason transfer window: Al Ahly. It is here that he began to build his reputation as Egypt’s most talented player, scoring an incredible 11 goals in his first 13 games for Al Ahly.
On March 31, 2004, Aboutrika debuted for Egypt’s national team against Trinidad & Tobago, scoring his first goal for the Pharaohs (the match ended in a 2-1 win for Egypt). In 2005 Aboutrika aided Al Ahly in claiming their first Egyptian League title in 4 years as well as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League title, which punched Al Ahly’s ticket to the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship in Japan.
In 2006 Aboutrika led Al Ahly to a third consecutive league title, finishing the competition as the top scorer with 18 total goals. Aboutrika continued to dominate during the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, scoring important goals against Libya and Cote d’Ivoire in the group stages, setting up Amr Zaki’s game-winning goal in the semi-finals against Senegal, and scoring the decisive 4th penalty in the championship game against Cote d’Ivoire. Al Ahly’s victory in the 2006 CAF Champions league was highlighted by Aboutrika placing as the tournament’s top scorer with 8 goals, which he followed up with the 2006 FIFA Club World Championship, also finishing the tournament as top scorer with 3 goals in 3 games.
To cap off his footballing achievements, Aboutrika led Al Ahly to four more league titles between 2007-2011 and helped Egypt complete an unprecedented hat trick of consecutive ACN championships in 2010. Ultimately, however, Aboutrika’s achievements are not constrained to the football pitch in the minds of his fans.
In Egypt there is a popular story regarding Aboutrika’s contract negotiations with Tersana. As the narrative goes, Tersana wanted Aboutrika and a teammate to sign new contracts and they offered Aboutrika a much higher salary than his teammate, but Aboutrika refused to believe he was more valuable than his teammate and insisted on taking the same salary as his teammate. Aboutrika, on the pitch and off, has been very conscious of his influence on Egyptian football fans, and signed with Tersana at the same salary as his teammates.
This story, like so many others of its kind, is what endears Aboutrika to the Egyptian people. He is not just a football hero, he is our hero. He plays football for the people, embodying Al Ahly’s reputation as The People’s Club. He refused approaches from European clubs so he could continue to play exclusively for the Egyptian people. He is a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador and a World Food Programme Ambassador Against Hunger. When Aboutrika plays, Egypt stops everything to watch. When he speaks, the people listen. And when the people speak, Aboutrika listens. When they ask, he answers. He is a successful footballer, a devout Muslim, a generous philanthropist, a human rights advocate, and a supporter of Egypt’s revolution.Mohamed Aboutrika played for the club of the poor, the club of an independent and free Egypt, and now he plays – or, rather, does not play – for the people and their future. As February 1, 2012 will go down in Egypt’s history as a day of national mourning following the deaths of 74 football fans in the devastating Port Said riot, February 2 will be remembered as the day Egypt’s military rulers forced Aboutrika, our hero, to retire and help put the final nails in their own coffin.
