Ahmed Hegazi (footballer)

Ahmed Elsayed Ali Elsayed Hegazy (Egyptian Arabic: أحمد حجازي‎; born 25 January 1991), simply known as Ahmed Hegazi, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad, on loan from Premier League club West Bromwich Albion, and the Egypt national team.

Ahmed Hegazi
Hegazi with Egypt at the 2018 World Cup
Personal information
Full name Ahmed Elsayed Ali Elsayed Hegazy[1]
Date of birth (1991-01-25) 25 January 1991
Place of birth Ismailia, Egypt
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Al-Ittihad
(on loan from West Bromwich Albion)
Number 26
Youth career
Ismaily
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Ismaily 28 (0)
2012–2015 Fiorentina 3 (0)
2015 → Perugia (loan) 10 (0)
2015–2017 Al Ahly 40 (0)
2017 → West Bromwich Albion (loan) 18 (2)
2017– West Bromwich Albion 75 (2)
2020– → Al-Ittihad (loan) 15 (0)
National team‡
2009–2011 Egypt U20 13 (5)
2011–2014 Egypt U23 3 (0)
2011– Egypt 61 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:22, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:12, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Hegazi has represented the senior Egyptian national team since 2011, during this period his only absences from the squad have been due to injury. He has represented Egypt in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, 2011 African U-20 Championship, 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2017, he was included in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations CAF Team of the tournament due to his impressive performances.

Club career

Ismaily

Hegazi's professional playing career began on 24 November 2009, when he made his debut with Egyptian Premier League club Ismaily playing as a full back.

Fiorentina

On 22 December 2011, the Egyptian club announced having made a deal with Italian side Fiorentina, in exchange for €1.5 million. The Egyptian company received a 15% sell on fee.[3] Hegazi was given the number 3 shirt at Fiorentina. He made his unofficial debut for the club playing 30 minutes in a friendly against Viareggio.

On 18 November 2012, he played 15 minutes in his official debut against Atalanta, and scored his first goal for La Viola later that month in the second half of a Coppa Italia match against Juve Stabia on 28 November. On 12 December, Fiorentina announced that Hegazi had completed a surgery after sustaining a severe leg injury in training. The club also announced that he had undergone reconstructive surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament. The expected recovery period before the player could return to sports activity was 5–6 months. In September 2013 he suffered another blow as he had injured the same ligament again in training and took him out for 6 months[4] making him miss most of the season.

On 8 December 2014, Fiorentina announced that the player would be released in January 2015, along with Octávio, Mounir El Hamdaoui, Oleksandr Iakovenko and Joshua Brillante.[5]

Perugia loan

On 2 February 2015, Hegazi joined Serie B side Perugia on loan for the rest of 2014–15 Serie B.[6] He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 loss to Vicenza playing the whole 90 minutes. It was his first complete match in Italy.[7]

Al Ahly SC

On 1 September 2015, Hegazi joined Egyptian Premier League side Al Ahly of Cairo on a five-year contract.

West Bromwich Albion
Hegazi playing for West Bromwich Albion in 2017

On 17 July 2017, Hegazi joined Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on loan from El Ahly until the end of the 2017–18 season, with Albion holding an option to trigger a permanent transfer.[8] Hegazi made his Premier League debut for West Brom on 12 August, scoring a headed goal in a 1–0 win against AFC Bournemouth and winning the man of the match award.[9] In the following match he received the award for the second time in a row, as West Brom defeated hosts Burnley and made their best start to a top flight campaign since the 1978–79 season.[10]

On 18 December 2017, West Brom exercised the option to sign Hegazi on a permanent basis.[11]

In July 2019, after undergoing ankle surgery, it was announced that he would miss the first few weeks of the 2019–20 season.[12]

Al-Ittihad (loan)

On 26 October 2020, Hegazi joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad on loan from West Bromwich Albion until the end of the 2020–21 season.[13]

International career

Hegazi made his international debut with the senior Egypt national team in an away game against Sierra Leone in 2011 when he was only 20 years and 7 months old.

Ever since, he has been a regular in the national team and has only missed games due to injury. In December 2016 Héctor Cúper, the Egypt national football team coach, included him in the squad to compete in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.[14] Hegazi was a regular in the back four during the tournament, playing every single minute and displaying a solid performance as the Egyptians went all the way to the final. His performance earned him an inclusion in the CAF Team of the tournament.[15]

On 17 November 2020, during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Hegazi captained the Egypt national team for the first time, playing 90 minutes in a 1–3 away win against Togo.[16]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 4 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Division League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ismaily 2009–10 Egyptian Premier League 12010—3[lower-alpha 1]0—160
2010–11 Egyptian Premier League 7030—00—100
2011–12 Egyptian Premier League 9000———90
Total 28040003000350
Fiorentina 2012–13 Serie A 2011———31
2013–14 Serie A 1000—00—10
Total 301100000041
Perugia Calcio (loan) 2014–15 Serie B 10000———100
Al Ahly 2015–16 Egyptian Premier League 29010—8[lower-alpha 1]11[lower-alpha 2]0391
2016–17 Egyptian Premier League 11030—6[lower-alpha 1]11[lower-alpha 2]0211
Total 400400014220602
West Bromwich Albion 2017–18[17] Premier League 3823010——422
2018–19[18] Championship 3810020——401
2019–20[19] Championship 1612000——181
2020–21[20] Premier League 100000——10
Total 9345030——1014
Al-Ittihad (loan) 2020–21 Saudi Pro League 15010——2[lower-alpha 3]0180
Career total 189415130172402287
  1. Appearances in CAF Champions League
  2. Appearances in Egyptian Super Cup
  3. Appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup

International
As of match played 17 November 2020[21]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Egypt
201130
2012120
201341
201570
201650
2017110
201891
201980
202020
Total612

International goals
As of match played 23 March 2018. Egypt score listed first, score column indicates score after each Hegazi goal.[21]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 4 June 201330 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt16 Botswana1–11–1Friendly[22]
2 16 October 2018Mavuso Sports Centre, Manzini, Swaziland50 Eswatini1–02–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Al Ahly

Egypt

Individual

  • Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2017[26]

References
  1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  2. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players: Egypt" (PDF). FIFA. 17 June 2018. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  3. "Ismaily approve Ahmed Hegazi's €1.5 million move to Fiorentina". Goal.com. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  4. "Fiorentina's Hegazy blow - Football Italia". www.football-italia.net.
  5. "مصحح.. فيورنتينا يعرض حجازي للبيع". FilGoal.com.
  6. "Egypt's Hegazy joins Serie B side Perugia on loan from Fiorentina - Talents Abroad - Sports - Ahram Online". english.ahram.org.eg.
  7. "حجازي يخسر مباراته الأولى بقميص بيروجيا". FilGoal.com.
  8. "Albion complete Hegazi deal". West Bromwich Albion FC. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  9. Lofthouse, Amy (12 August 2017). "West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  10. Sutcliffe, Steven (19 August 2017). "Burnley 0 West Brom 1: Substitute Hal Robson-Kanu goes from hero to zero after seeing red in Turf Moor cameo". telegraph.co.uk.
  11. "Hegazi commits future to Albion" (Press release). West Bromwich Albion F.C. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  12. "Ahmed Hegazi: West Brom defender to miss start of season". BBC Sport. 25 July 2019.
  13. "Al Ittihad seal Egyptian defender Ahmed Hegazy on loan". 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  14. "Hector Cuper announce Egypt's final squad FOR 2017 AFCON in GABON". nilesports.com.
  15. www.realnet.co.uk. "Cameroon striker Christian Bassogog named AFCON Player of the Tournament".
  16. "Egypt beats Togo to go top, Sierra Leone holds Nigeria again". CAFOnline. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  17. "Games played by Ahmed Hegazi in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  18. "Games played by Ahmed Hegazi in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  19. "Games played by Ahmed Hegazi in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  20. "Games played by Ahmed Hegazi in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  21. "Hegazy, Ahmed". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  22. Samuel, Israel (5 June 2013). "Botswana hold Egypt in friendly". Futaa.com. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  23. "Egypt picks Orange CAN U-20 bronze medal - Orange African Youth Championship 2011 - CAF". 3 May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011.
  24. "CAF - CAF Error Page" (PDF). 12 August 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2011.
  25. Amy Lofthouse (5 February 2017). "Egypt 1 - 2 Cameroon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  26. "AFCON 2017: CAF names team of the tournament". soccer24.co.zw. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.