Egyptian legendary keeper Essam El-Hadary has retired from international football.
The 45-year-old become the oldest player to ever play in a FIFA World Cup at aged 45 years and 161 days old when Egypt played against Saudi Arabia.The shot- stopper smashed the record previously held by Colombia’s Faryd Mondragon.At 45 years Egypt’s Essam El-Hadary will make World Cup history as oldest player
The South American goalie was 43 years and three days when he lined-up against Japan at the last World Cup four years ago.
It was an end to a brilliant career for the veteran who said in a statement “”There is an end for every start, after a lot of thinking I took my decision to international retirement 22 years, 4 months and 12 days from my first match with Egypt and I saw that this is the right moment to hang my gloves after we made the Egyptian people happy by participating in the world cup.
“This is a moment I didn’t want to come, I trained hard day and night to reach high performances and to be with the Egyptian team, I am very proud to play 159 matches with Egypt, won the African Cup of Nations four times, reached the final in 2017, won the best goalkeeper in Africa four times, won the Arab games in 2007 and finally reach the World Cup.
“Finally, thank god for everything. I want to thank my family for helping me always especially my father and thank every one of you for your support that helped me a lot to reach all these achievements.”Hadary said in a statement released on his social media accounts.
El Hadary was handed his debut in 1996 and went on to play in 159 matches in a career that spanned over two decades.
He won four African Cup of Nations [1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010], but was denied a fifth in 2017 after Cameroon’s sensational triumph. Also, he was named the best goalkeeper in Africa four times.
