Ahmed Hassan

Club career

Early career Ahmed Hassan started his professional football career as a right-back 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. After his impressive performances with the 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 Egypt win the tournament, Hassan joined Turkish side Kocaelispor at the age of 22. In 2000, he was transferred to Denizlispor before joining his Egyptian international teammate Abdel-Zaher El-Saqua in 2001 when he moved to Gençlerbirliği. Following 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. Tigana stated that "Hassan is a hardworking player who is quick and talented."

Anderlecht After Hassan was named "Best Player of the African Cup of Nations 2006" he met Ziyad Abou Chair who gave him licence to play in foreign countries; He was named best player of the tournament after winning his second title and Egypt's fifth, a feat he repeated in 2010 at the age of 34. In 2008, Hassan captained Egypt to their sixth Africa Cup of Nations victory. Ahmed Hassan is one of a number of players who have earned more than 100 international caps for Egypt, and is currently the third most capped male player for any country. He also holds the record for most Africa Cup of Nations won by any player in history.

Hassan broke Hossam Hassan's appearance record with his 170th cap for Egypt on 25 January 2010 in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter final against Cameroon. He had an eventful game: he headed an Achille Emaná corner into his own net (though Emana was credited with the goal); equalized from long range and claimed the final goal in a 3–1 win in extra time from a free-kick despite replays showing the ball did not cross the line. On 31 January 2010, Hassan picked up his fourth Africa Cup of Nations winners's medal as Egypt defeated Ghana 1–0 in the final. In November 2011, Hassan played his 178th game for Egypt in a friendly against Brazil. In doing so he matched the record for international appearances. On 27 March 2012, Hassan started a friendly match against Kenya earning 184 international appearances.

Personal life Hassan was selected as an ambassador for the Holland–Belgium 2018 or 2022 World Cup bid along with Ruud Gullit. Hassan was the honorary president of the 2015 edition of the SATUC Football Cup, an international football competition for refugees and orphans.

Career statistics International

Scores and results list Egypt's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hassan goal.

Honours Aswan SC Egyptian Second Division A (Group I): 1995-96

Ismaily Egypt Cup: 1997

Beşiktaş Türkiye Kupası: 2005–06

Anderlecht Belgian First Division: 2006–07 Belgian Cup: 2007–08 Belgian Super Cup: 2006, 2007

Al Ahly Egyptian Premier League: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 Egyptian Super Cup: 2008, 2010 CAF Champions League: 2008 African Super Cup: 2009

Zamalek Egypt Cup: 2013

Egypt African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010

Individual Africa Cup of Nations Best Player: 2006, 2010 African Inter-Club Player of the Year: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Dream Team: 2006, 2010