Essam Kamal Tawfiq El Hadary is a famous Egyptian goalkeeper who played professional football for many years. He was born on January 15, 1973.
El Hadary spent most of his club career playing for Al Ahly, a big team in Egypt. He also played for the Egyptian national team 159 times. He helped his country win the Africa Cup of Nations four times!
In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he made history. At 45 years and 161 days old, he became the oldest player ever to play in a World Cup match.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Essam El Hadary was born in Kafr El Battikh, Damietta. His father was a craftsman who owned his own workshop making furniture.
El Hadary took up playing football without his parents' knowledge, washing his muddy clothes in a local river after playing in order to avoid them knowing. He was spotted by his local football team before being signed by Second Division club Damietta at age 17.
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He had never worn goalkeeping gloves before, but he quickly learned. After two seasons, he joined Al Ahly, one of Egypt's biggest clubs.
Club Career
After two seasons, he joined Al Ahly, one of Egypt's biggest clubs. He stayed there for 12 years and had amazing success. He won eight Egyptian Premier League titles, four Egypt Cups, and four CAF Champions League titles.
In 2008, El Hadary moved to a Swiss club called FC Sion. There were some disagreements with his old club, Al Ahly, about his contract. FIFA, the world football body, eventually allowed the move.
After a short time in Switzerland, he returned to Egypt. He also played for Al-Merreikh in Sudan. In 2017, he made history by becoming the first foreign goalkeeper to play in Saudi Arabia when he joined Al-Taawoun.
In December 2010, after a brief stint with Zamalek, he played for the Cairo giants for only one season.
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Essam El Hadary officially announced his retirement from playing football in November 2020.
International Career
El Hadary represented Egypt a total of 159 times from his debut in 1996 until his retirement in 2018. Third on the list of all-time appearances for Egypt, El Hadary made 159 international appearances for his nation between 1996 and 2018.
He was a key player in Egypt's success in the Africa Cup of Nations. He helped his country win this important tournament four times: in 1998, 2006, 2008, and 2010. He won the African Cup of Nations four times, and was named the tournament's best goalkeeper on three occasions.
In January 2013, his agent tweeted that El Hadary had retired from international football after being benched for a run of games, being the 23rd most capped international player in history and also the player with most African Cup of Nations titles.
On 4 June 2016, El Hadary played the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 win against Tanzania which secured Egypt's qualification for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
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In June 2018, at the age of 45, he was named in Egypt's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He was the oldest of all players selected for the tournament, beating the record by Colombian goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón in the previous edition of the tournament.
On 25 June, El Hadary was handed a start in Egypt's final group match against Saudi Arabia to become the oldest player ever to play in and debut at a World Cup at the age of 45 years and 161 days, once again breaking Mondragón's record of 43 years and three days.
He announced his retirement from international football in August 2018.
In November 2019, the FIFA World Football Museum displayed his gloves from that World Cup match.
Egyptian goalkeeping great El-Hadary retires aged 45
Coaching Career
After retiring as a player, Essam El Hadary started his coaching career. In September 2021, he became the goalkeeping coach for the Egypt national team. Later, in August 2022, he joined the coaching staff for the Egypt U23 team.
Essam El Hadary: Club statistics
| Season | Age | Squad | Country | Comp | LgRank | MP | Starts | Min | 90s | GA | GA90 | SoTA | Saves | Save% | W | D | L | CS | CS% | PKatt | PKA | PKsv | PKm | Save% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-2008 | 34 | Sion | SUI | 1. Super Lg | 7th | 5 | 5 | 450 | 5.0 | 6 | 1.20 | 24 | 18 | 75.0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | |||||
| 2008-2009 | 35 | Sion | SUI | 1. Super Lg | 8th | 27 | 27 | 2,270 | 25.2 | 44 | 1.74 | 134 | 90 | 67.2 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 18.5 | |||||
| 2017-2018 | 44 | Al-Taawoun | KSA | 1. |
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