Ahmed Hassan
Introduction
(born 2 May 1975, stands 178m, and weighs 70kg)[[1]] is an Egyptian football player who is currently playing as an attacking midfielder or on the right wing for R.S.C. Anderlecht in (Belgium) and the Egyptian national team.He started his professional football career at 17 with Ismaily and 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[[2]]. After his impressive performances with the Egyptian 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 the national team win the tournament, Hassan joined Kocaelispor from Ismaily, at the age of 22. In 2000, he was tranferred to Denizlispor. And in 2001, he joined his Egyptian international teammate Abdel Zaher El Saka when he moved to Gençlerbirligi. After three successful seasons with the club, he moved to Besiktas, where he was a first team regular, as well as a regular on the team's scoring sheet. He, specifically, impressed Jean Tigana, who was appointed the manager of Besiktas in October 2005, and is known for his tendency to prefer selecting young players for his first team, as he regarded Hassan, even at the age of 30, a key player of the squad. He stated that "Hassan is a hardworking player who is quick and talented. His only problem is not liking the team play. He wants to be free on the pitch. He is my irregular prince as he doesn't play in the team-system."[[3]]After he was named "Best Player of the African Cup of Nations 2006"[[4]], Fulham F.C., Newcastle United F.C., and Espanyol were reportedly interested in signing him. However, he chose to move to R.S.C. Anderlecht, the Belgium league champions, on a free transfer after he chose not to extend his contract with Besiktas, which ended in 2006.Ahmed Hassan has played in six African Cup of Nations tournaments for Egypt, winning the tournament twice, first in 1998 and again in 2006. In the African Cup of Nations 2006, he was chosen as a captain for the Egyptian national team, and helped the team's cause with 4 goals in 6 matches, which placed him as the second top goal scorer of the tournament[[5]]. He was named later "Best Player of the tournament".
