Hossam Ghaly
Encyclopedia
Hossam El Sayed Ghali is an Egypt
ian football midfielder
. He is the team captain of the Egyptian Premier League
side Al-Ahly
. Ghali plays mainly as a central midfielder, less frequently as a right full-back and due to injuries even an outside midfielder. He has played 31 international matches for Egypt.
Ghali is a former player for Tottenham Hotspur
, where he played between 2006 and 2009. His time at the club was marked by scandals.
youth team, and he broke into the first team squad in 1997, he was only 16 when he joined the first team. He played regularly for el-Ahly until he moved to Feyenoord Rotterdam
, in 2003 despite interest from numerous other European clubs such as VfB Stuttgart
and FC Nantes. The transfer fee was said to be around 1.4 million Euros.
After three troublesome seasons in the Netherlands
, Ghali joined Tottenham Hotspur
in January 2006.
, in which Ghaly gave Spurs a temporary 3-1 lead in the FA Cup
. A week later Ghali scored his first league goal, in a 3-1 win over Watford. Ghali also had helped Tottenham to win several penalty kicks, which were often the winning goals in the game; A foul on Ghali in the middle of the penalty box against Blackburn Rovers saw Jermain Defoe
score a penalty kick which resulted in the game ending in 1-1 draw. Ghali's second encounter with Blackburn however is remembered merely due to its affiliation with infamy.
His future at Tottenham was left in doubt after he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the ground after being substituted during a Premier League match against Blackburn on 10 May 2007. Ghali had been brought on in the first half after an injury to Steed Malbranque
, and rebelled when brought off. The Tottenham fans were left angry at Ghali's reaction, singing "You're not fit to wear the shirt" and he was disciplined by the club soon after. He issued the following apology: "I am just so angry with myself," Ghali told the official Spurs site. "I have always considered it an honour to wear the Tottenham shirt and I never intended to show any disrespect".
"I knew things weren't happening for me out there, my play was terrible and I could hear the crowd jeering me. I was so upset at the fans' reaction. I have enjoyed playing in front of the club's supporters all season and I felt I had given of my best all the time and played some decent football. It is always hard to accept being substituted after such a short period of time and I was upset and taken aback by the cheering. I am a player who plays with my heart".
"I know my reaction was totally wrong. I have apologised to the manager and I also want to apologise to the fans. I hope they don't judge me on this incident alone. I have tried hard for the club this season".
Nonetheless, he was not to play for the club again. He stated that he wished to leave Tottenham due to his frustration at being unable to play in central midfield.
In July 2007, he was set to move to Birmingham City
for a fee of £
3 million (subject to work permit approval). However, on August 3, Birmingham announced they would not be completing the deal after Ghaly objected to the training methods employed by manager [Steve Bruce].
In January 2008, Derby County
expressed an interest in Ghali. They agreed terms with Tottenham Hotspur and the player to take him on loan until the end of the season. Ghali made his debut during Derby's 1-0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic
on 12 January. After 12 games and the relegation of Derby to the Championship
, Paul Jewell
revealed he would not sign him as Ghali wished to stay in the Premiership.
Despite not being given a squad number by Juande Ramos during his time at Tottenham, new appointment Harry Redknapp
issued him with the number 15. On the 2 January 2009, Hossam Ghali was amongst the substitutes for Tottenham's FA Cup
3rd Round tie against Wigan Athletic at White Hart Lane
. Whilst warming up and preparing to be substituted on late in the second half, Ghali was booed by a large amount of the Tottenham supporters. In light of this, manager Harry Redknapp decided against bringing him on.
Al-Ahly
On the 6 of July 2010, Hossam Ghali completed a free transfer, for a three year contract, to Egypt’s giant Al-Ahly after a contest with arch rival Zamalek. Ghali was a product of Al-Ahly’s youth team. He retrieved his number 14 shirt along with the captain's armband.
National Team
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian football midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
. He is the team captain of the Egyptian Premier League
Egyptian Premier League
The Egyptian Premier League is an Egyptian professional league for football clubs and represents the top flight of Egyptian football. The championship consists of nineteen competing teams in a home and away league system. It is currently known as the Etisalat Egyptian Premier League, after the...
side Al-Ahly
Al-Ahly
Al-Ahly Sports Club , commonly known as simply Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian sporting club. Founded in April 1907, Al-Ahly was named in 2000 by the Confederation of African Football as the "African Club of the Century"...
. Ghali plays mainly as a central midfielder, less frequently as a right full-back and due to injuries even an outside midfielder. He has played 31 international matches for Egypt.
Ghali is a former player for Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
, where he played between 2006 and 2009. His time at the club was marked by scandals.
Career
Ghaly is a product of Al-AhlyAl-Ahly
Al-Ahly Sports Club , commonly known as simply Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian sporting club. Founded in April 1907, Al-Ahly was named in 2000 by the Confederation of African Football as the "African Club of the Century"...
youth team, and he broke into the first team squad in 1997, he was only 16 when he joined the first team. He played regularly for el-Ahly until he moved to Feyenoord Rotterdam
Feyenoord Rotterdam
Feyenoord is a Dutch professional football club located in Rotterdam. Along with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord is one of the "big three" clubs in the Netherlands. These three clubs and Utrecht and Roda JC are the only clubs never to have been relegated from the Dutch first division...
, in 2003 despite interest from numerous other European clubs such as VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
and FC Nantes. The transfer fee was said to be around 1.4 million Euros.
After three troublesome seasons in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Ghali joined Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
in January 2006.
Tottenham Hotspur
Ghaly was given the number 14 jersey and scored his first goal for Spurs in the UEFA Cup against Besiktas. His one memorable performance came during a game against rivals ChelseaChelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, in which Ghaly gave Spurs a temporary 3-1 lead in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. A week later Ghali scored his first league goal, in a 3-1 win over Watford. Ghali also had helped Tottenham to win several penalty kicks, which were often the winning goals in the game; A foul on Ghali in the middle of the penalty box against Blackburn Rovers saw Jermain Defoe
Jermain Defoe
Jermain Colin Defoe is an English footballer who plays as a striker for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, and the England national football team....
score a penalty kick which resulted in the game ending in 1-1 draw. Ghali's second encounter with Blackburn however is remembered merely due to its affiliation with infamy.
His future at Tottenham was left in doubt after he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the ground after being substituted during a Premier League match against Blackburn on 10 May 2007. Ghali had been brought on in the first half after an injury to Steed Malbranque
Steed Malbranque
Steed Malbranque is a Belgian-born French footballer who last played for Saint-Étienne. Malbranque had previously played professionally for Lyon in his native France before moving to England where he had spells with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland.-Lyon:He was a trainee at Lyon youth...
, and rebelled when brought off. The Tottenham fans were left angry at Ghali's reaction, singing "You're not fit to wear the shirt" and he was disciplined by the club soon after. He issued the following apology: "I am just so angry with myself," Ghali told the official Spurs site. "I have always considered it an honour to wear the Tottenham shirt and I never intended to show any disrespect".
"I knew things weren't happening for me out there, my play was terrible and I could hear the crowd jeering me. I was so upset at the fans' reaction. I have enjoyed playing in front of the club's supporters all season and I felt I had given of my best all the time and played some decent football. It is always hard to accept being substituted after such a short period of time and I was upset and taken aback by the cheering. I am a player who plays with my heart".
"I know my reaction was totally wrong. I have apologised to the manager and I also want to apologise to the fans. I hope they don't judge me on this incident alone. I have tried hard for the club this season".
Nonetheless, he was not to play for the club again. He stated that he wished to leave Tottenham due to his frustration at being unable to play in central midfield.
In July 2007, he was set to move to Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
for a fee of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
3 million (subject to work permit approval). However, on August 3, Birmingham announced they would not be completing the deal after Ghaly objected to the training methods employed by manager [Steve Bruce].
In January 2008, Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
expressed an interest in Ghali. They agreed terms with Tottenham Hotspur and the player to take him on loan until the end of the season. Ghali made his debut during Derby's 1-0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
on 12 January. After 12 games and the relegation of Derby to the Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
, Paul Jewell
Paul Jewell
Paul Steven Jewell is a former English footballer who is currently the manager of Ipswich Town.His playing career started with Liverpool before moving to Wigan Athletic and then a ten-year spell with Bradford City...
revealed he would not sign him as Ghali wished to stay in the Premiership.
Despite not being given a squad number by Juande Ramos during his time at Tottenham, new appointment Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
issued him with the number 15. On the 2 January 2009, Hossam Ghali was amongst the substitutes for Tottenham's FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
3rd Round tie against Wigan Athletic at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
. Whilst warming up and preparing to be substituted on late in the second half, Ghali was booed by a large amount of the Tottenham supporters. In light of this, manager Harry Redknapp decided against bringing him on.
Al-Nassr
On 22 January 2009, Ghali completed a move to Saudi club Al-Nassr on a three year deal.Al-Ahly
On the 6 of July 2010, Hossam Ghali completed a free transfer, for a three year contract, to Egypt’s giant Al-Ahly after a contest with arch rival Zamalek. Ghali was a product of Al-Ahly’s youth team. He retrieved his number 14 shirt along with the captain's armband.
Honours
Al Ahly- Winner of Egyptian League (1997–1998)
- Winner of Egyptian League (1998–1999)
- Winner of Egyptian League (1999–2000)
- Winner of CAF Champions League 2001.
- Winner of African Super Cup 2002.
- Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2001).
- Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2003).
National Team
- Winner of African Cup of NationsAfrican Cup of NationsThe Africa Cup of Nations, also referred to as the African Cup of Nations or African Nations Cup, officially CAN , is the main international association football competition in Africa. It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football , and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been...
Angola 2010. - Winner of Nile Basin Tournament (Egypt 2011).