Then & Now: Mo Salah Follows in the Footsteps of Egypt’s Legendary Football Captains
The new captain for the Egyptian national team is Mo Salah! Undeniably, this was anticipated and wanted by a lot of Egyptians. Mo Salah has already made history as a player in the Egyptian team. He ranks in third place with the most scored goals in the list of top goals scored in the Egyptian national team’s history. Salah has 39 goals to his name while playing in 57 matches. That means his score rate is 68.42% for each match; the best score rate in the history of the Egyptian team. Now that he’s captain, after several conversations and voting, here’s a list of previous captains and leaders of Egypt’s national football team!
What’s a captain?
Firstly, what does a captain do? The captain is the link between the team and the coaching staff, and guides the team to adhere to the coach’s instructions. Team players need to contact the captain first in case of an issue, and then leads them and speaks on their behalf to the world, as well as to the coaching staff. It is the captain’s responsibility to encourage the team and motivate them to win and play. So, without further ado, here are 10 previous Egyptian football captains!
Thabet El-Batal (1990 – 1992)
He was an international goalkeeper. His nickname was El-Batal, which means hero in Arabic. Although he passed away in 2005, this legend still lives on to this day.
Gamal Abdel Hamid (1992 – 1994)
Starting off as a football player, Abdel Hamid eventually became a coach.
Ahmed Shubair (1994 – 1996)
A former Egyptian goalkeeper and captain, Shubair used to be the vice president of the Egyptian Football Association. Now he’s a soccer TV commentator and show anchor!
Ahmed El-Kass (1996 – 1998)
A legendary football player, captain and manager.
Hady Khashaba (2004 – 2006)
Hady was a football player who played internationally and locally in the Egyptian National Team, and was the captain for the team for a duration of two years.
Hossam Hassan (1998 -2004) (2006 – 2008)
Hossam Hassan is a former football player, who played as a striker. He is the top scorer in the Egyptian national team history’s with 69 goals to his name. Hossam was the team’s captain for six consecutive years, then two years later, he served an additional two years as captain again. He is literally a legend.
Ahmed Hassan (2008 – 2017)
A former football player and the most capped male international football player in history, Hassan is one of the best players in African football history, and was the captain for many years.
Essam El-Hadary (2017 – 2019)
A former football player and goalkeeper who earned the nickname the “High Dam,” due to his exceptional goalkeeping skills. El-Hadary was the captain of the Egyptian National Team for two years, and is now retired.
Ahmed Elmohamady (2019 – 2020)
The most recent team captain, Elmohamady is a professional football player, and was recently replaced by Mo Salah.
Mohamed Salah (2021 – )
Salah is a professional international football player who was just officially announced as the captain of the Egyptian national team, and is regarded as one of the best players in the world.
