Egyptian Players Abroad; Professionals from Bad to Worst

Alert alarm, a credited excerpt from http://www.egyptianplayers.com

Poor decisions, bad luck, and lack of professionalism were common factors beyond the worst season for Egyptians abroad.

In 2001 Mido started brilliantly in Belgium and made a dream move to Ajax Amsterdam at the tender age of 18.

At that time, Egypt had a few players abroad like Ahmed Hassan, El Saka and Ayman Abdel Aziz in Turkey, Abdel Satar Sabry in Portugal, Ahmed Salah Hosny, Mazhar Abdel Rahman at Monaco, Hany Ramzy, Yasser Radwan and Mohamed Emara in Germany and Mohamed Zidan.

Egypt had many decent players in the European leagues. Most of them showed dedication and professionalism to remain in Europe while the rest returned home.

Over the past few years, players left to Europe and others returned, but the number of players heading home was always higher till we reached a state where we barely have one professional player worth covering.

In the previous season in particular, the players who returned home far exceeded the ones who left to play in Europe. In addition to this, the few players who left this summer or in January returned home after giving a bad image for the Egyptian football professional.

The following are a few examples:

Gamal Hamza:

A talented forward with great ball control and good finishing. Is that enough to make him shine in Europe?

The player went to Germany to play for Mainz at the age of 27 without a previous European experience. He didn't cope with the physical nature of training as he got used to lighter training regime in Egypt. He also lacks consistency on the field and doesn't like to have defensive duties.

The return of the player home was inevitable since he will never learn what he skipped while he was a teenager.

Amr Zaki:

A player who had the world at his feet last season after topping the Premier League goalscorers chart. His lack of professionalism cost him his European career and will end up starting from square one at Zamalek. Zaki's poor decision to join the relegated Hull City also contributed to his bad image as the player went there in a poor form and the club had little to no quality player to help Zaki shine as he did in Wigan. At Wigan, Zaki benefited from the support of Valencia and Palacios but in Hull, the team lacked creativity and Zaki had to try other roles besides his main role as striker, a thing that made him look in a very poor shape.

Mido:

The once was Egypt's best professional abroad ended up as a Championship player by the end of the current season. Mido's poor decision making in the past season cost him his place in the Premier League as his return to Zamalek last Summer cost him dearly.

Mido came back home with big hopes to help Zamalek compete for the title but he ended up with the team struggling against relegation. Hossam didn't leave a great impact in the few months that he spent in Egypt and went back to Europe in January. In order to player for Premier League club in Winter, Mido had to accept a huge wage cut which made him a source for laughter in the British press after accepting a 1k a week offer from West Ham.

At West Ham, Mido didn't look bad at all but he didn't look like a candidate for a permanent deal either. He missed from the spot and missed a sitter in crucial time for his team and this put pressure on Zola to bench him till end of season.

Many awaited for Mido's return to his form at Ajax, but the only one who can decide this in Mido himself. Will he strong will to make a fresh start at another league that earns him a place amongst top teams once again or will he continue the downfall?

Hossam Ghaly:

another player returning home. The only good thing about Ghaly's time in KSA was his return to the Egyptian national team. The skilled midfielder passed through hard times this season after he was tested wrongly positive for a prohibited drug, a thing that would have cost him his career but fortunately, the player can play football again now.

Ghaly's destination will likely be the Egyptian league as talks between him and his former club Al-Ahly had started already.

At the age of 29, Ghaly's return to Europe might seem difficult but only time will tell.

Mohamed Shawky:

Another player who failed to make the desired impact in Europe this season. After getting out of Boro's plans, Shawky joined Kayserispor in January with hopes they can achieve European qualification. However, the club form in the second half of season went downhill and they ended up in the 8th spot in table.

Shawky is heading home too. He will likely play for Al-Ahly next season as he failed to make any positive impact in Turkey.

Lierse players:

Most of Egyptians at Lierse failed to make it into the starting eleven last season. The only first team regular was Mohamed Abdel Wahed while Ahmed Samir didn't see much of first team football.

After the club have won promotion, it will be even harder for non first team Egyptians to stay at the club. They will likely be replaced by better players this Summer.

El Saka:

The second best Egyptian professional abroad after Zidan is heading home as well. No one would blame El Saka for this as he spent his best years in Turkey and made a great name for himself there.

El Saka showed exemplary attitude and dedication over the past few years. This gave El Saka a chance to play as regular in all the clubs that he played for.

Ayman Abdel Aziz:

He returned home in Winter due to the financial crisis at Dyarbakir but he is expected to return to Turkey next season as Hossam Hassan might not need the anchor man in Zamalek's starting eleven.

Hosny Abd Rabo:

A good player who ruined his chance all by himself. His poor decision to play for Ahly Dubai after winning ACN player of the tournament in 2008 contributed to his dip in form in ACN 2010 and will eventually reduce his chances to move to Europe again.

The above mentioned players are not the only ones who are returning home but also Amir Azmy decided to return home earlier this season, Amr El Halawani also is aiming to play in the Egyptian league as well.

The positives in the past season are very few and all related to Egypt's only real professional at the time being Mohamed Zidan. He established himself as a key player at Dortmund and almost lead them to the Champions League. However, bad luck resulted in his long term injury which added to the current season set backs.

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