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As we all know, there has been continuos and sometimes ridiculous debates about who the greatest player ever. Africa has produced its fair share of world class footballers in the past...

World Football: Hossam Hassan - Greatest African Player Ever?

by Salomon Gonzales (Senior Writer)

29

747 reads

Opinion

September 05, 2008


As we all know, there has been continuos and sometimes ridiculous debates about who the greatest player ever.

Africa has produced its fair share of world class footballers in the past. The likes of George Weah, Nwankwo Kanu, Jay Jay Okocha, Roger Milla, Hossam Hassan, Abedi Pele, etc.

Then there are the current crop of African players on their way to superstardom, some are already there—Samuel Eto'o, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Freddy Kanoute, Stephen Appiah, and El Hadji Diouf.

While I realize that these players have not yet reached the level of the afore mentioned, they are world class players in their own right.

Now comes the question: Who is the greatest african player ever?

People might argue that the distinction might fall to one of three men: Roger Milla, George Weah and Jay-Jay Okocha.

George Weah is up there for obvious reasons, as he is the only African player ever to win the World Player of the Year Award (1995).

Roger Milla shone on the world stage and carried Cameroon to dizzying heights, but never got to the pinnacle of club football. I still can't forget how he single-handedly defeated Colombia at the 1990 World Cup.

It was that Cameroon squad that served as a model for success for future African teams.

Jay Jay Okocha always dazzled us with his amazing trickery. However, sadly he never got to win the African player of the year award. He is regarded one of the best players to never have won it.

However, if you ask me, its none other than Egypt's Hossam Hassan.

With 170 caps for Egypt, Hossam Hassan is definitely Africa's greatest player. He's certainly the greatest African, of his generation. He briefly left Africa to play for clubs such as Greece's PAOK Thessaloniki FC and Switezerland's Neuchatel Xamx FC.

Retired at the age of 40, Hassan has amassed an impressive array of titles, including three African Nations Cups (1986, 1998, and 2006), while being the only player to do so.

In addition, Hassan has an African Champions League title and 11 Egyptian league championships under his belt. Again, he is the only player to do so.

He became the world's most capped player in 2001 when overtaking Lothar Matthaus's mark of 150, but has since seen Claudio Suarez and Mohamed Al-Deayea overtake him.

Hassan retired with 180 caps.

He participated in 7 different African Nation Cups, ( '86, '88, '92, '98, '00, '02 and '08), which accounts for an all-time Egyptian record.

He certainly boasts amazing credentials. His last club as a player was El-Masry, one of the mid-table clubs in the Egyptian league.

He is currently coaching El-Masry along with his twin Ibrahim Hassan (who himself amassed over 100 caps).

He is one of two players only to have scored for Egyptian super-power Al-Ahly against Zamalek and for Zamalek against Al-Ahly.

He is the world's fifth and highest Egyptian all-time record holder for international goals, standing at 80.

For a man who started his career back in 1983, it's amazing that he still went strong until 2008, when he finally retired.

That's a 25-year-long career.

So everyone, please take a moment to salute this great Egyptian player: Hossam Hassan.

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29 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Jermaine Koko 10 months ago

    once again, superbly written

    we dont know much about him here in Cuba so i might have to do my own little research before i can agree with you

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  2. Khalid Shakran 10 months ago

    Hey Salomon. I really appreciate your efforts for bringing some African insight over here. However, you have got some facts wrong:

    1. Hossam Hassan retired!

    2. Hassan does not currently play for Ittihad el Sakandary...he coaches El-Masry along with his twin Ibrahim Hassan.

    3. Ittihad El Sakanday is not one of Egypt's top clubs...one of the poorest.

    Other than that, you're spot on and I salute him. However, Mahmoud el Khateeb, retired I think in '84, might be the only player I would add to the list of greats.

    Thanks a lot for the article Salomon!!

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  3. Miley Jamison 10 months ago

    I kind of agree with Khalid here that you got some of your info wrong but I see that you corrected it so its all good - Great work though Salomon

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  4. Anthony Sanchez 10 months ago

    Never heard of him surely he can't touch george weah??

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    • Salomon Gonzales 10 months ago

      Hossam Hassan is the most decorated african player Anthony! This is even more amazing when you consider the fact that he never played outside african contigent .... Anyway, this is all about opinions and in my opinion this great Egyptian is the greatest ..

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  5. Chris Dowding 10 months ago

    There is certainly a case for Hossan, but Weah gets my vote every time.

    Nice read.

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  6. illya mclellan 10 months ago

    nice article, good to hear about the non-beckhams of the world.

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  7. Aziz Abuhamar 10 months ago

    Hi Guys.
    Hi Salomon,

    Khalid is right, Ittihad of Alex is the last club Hossam played for.. it was in the first half of 2007/2008 season. Then in the same season he managed to guide fomer club Al-Masri.

    In the new season is took complete charge of the team along with his brother.

    Salomon,

    I like the way you write and the way you think.. I also write in Boro fan portal

    www.comeonboro.com

    you can see my latest column on Mido,

    http://www.comeonboro.com/spec_arts/250857.php

    If any one around is interested in football in the middleeast then he can log in to

    www.superkoora.com

    by the way Salomon,

    this is my email if you like to stay in touch (or any one from our friends).

    Lordom2001@hotmail.com

    Aziz

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  8. Salaar Arshad Shamsi 10 months ago

    Good piece, Salomon..Hassan was a legendary lad but George Weah achieved more fame..

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  9. Andrew McNair 10 months ago

    Enjoyed that Salomon. I've seen him play in a few African Nations Cups and he was an inspiration. Still not sure he's the best African player ever though.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Ismail Ayub 10 months ago

    Whoah, i'd never even heard of that guy. He's quite amazing.

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  11. Yoosof Farah 10 months ago

    Good article Salomon. For me Hossam Hassan was definitely the best ever African player (so far), better than George Weah in my view.

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  12. Barney 10 months ago

    I still reckon George Weah was the best ever, after all he did it on the World stage, and the European stage for AC Milan. Most exciting though I think is Jay-Jay Okocha, his skills were just amazing!

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    • Salomon Gonzales 10 months ago

      Weah had the platform to excell though. Problem is, people back home were expecting him to excell so it wasn't much of a surprise when he did. The scale of his success however, was surprising. At the end of the day if you ask the same question to 10 people, they all might pick Weah or Milla. I just wanna put Hossam on map aswell...

      Thanks for your comment Barney ..

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    • Barney 10 months ago

      Yeh it's good to see a less well known player be focused on. I had heard of Hossam Hassan before, but didn't realise just how good he was.

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    • Salomon Gonzales 10 months ago

      Now you do lol ... Now no one in BR has an excuse to 'not' know about him ...

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  13. Brandon Hallas 10 months ago

    Hi Salomon,
    Fantastic article, being South African I knew Hassan and have watched him play in many games but never knew all the details.
    I agree with you that he should be selected ahead of George Weah as he was more successful over a (MUCH) longer time frame. Although in Weah's favour he did manage his success at a much higher level, and his home nation is nowhere near as successful in football.

    I would like to add one name to the list as I feel defenders always get a raw deal in "greatest player" arguments. Lucas Radebe was a fantastic player who not only managed to have international success with South Africa (looking at the current state of the national team makes this success all the more amazing!) but also club success with Leeds United. While I wouldn't vote for him over Weah or Hassan, he definitely deserves to be on the short list in my view.

    Thanks for the article man, really enjoyed it!

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    • Salomon Gonzales 10 months ago

      Thanks Brandon, it was a pleasure writing it!

      Well there certainly is a case for Lucas Radebe. I must admit though, I never took time to notice him so I wouldn't know about his abillity and achievements.

      Me, being an East African myself, the African Cup of Nations is one of my favourite tournaments and I would love to have the chance to write about African related news in the future ....

      Looking forward to reading some your work ...

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