Career highlights for the man who passed away leaving a splendid legacy for Egyptian football; Mahmoud Al-Gohari. Al-Gohari died in Amman after suffering a brain stroke marking the demise of one of Egypt's most successful coaches ever, having stamped his mark on the national team and Cairo's top duo Ahli and Zamalek in a glorious career. A long list of unprecedented honors speaks for itself as Egyptian football mourn the General. Legendary record 1938 Born in Cairo, February 20. 1955 Kicked off his playing career at Ahli, where he won six Egyptian league and two cup titles in nine years with the club. 1959 He was the top scorer of Egypt's triumphant 1959 Africa Cup of Nations campaign on home soil, under the name of the former United Arab Republic. 1964 After just nine years of playing, Al-Gohari had to hang up his boots due to niggling knee injuries that prematurely ended his fine career. 1965 Began his managerial career with Ahli's youth teams before working as an assistant manager with mentor and ex-Reds boss Abdou Saleh Al-Wahsh. 1973 Al-Gohari became one of very few Egyptian sportsmen to take part in the great 6th of October triumph. 1977 Travelled to Saudi Arabia to work as an assistant coach for Ittihad Jeddah. 1981 Appointed first-team manager of Ittihad but only for one season, after which he returned to Ahli to lead a turnaround in the Reds' fortunes. 1982 Guided Ahli to their maiden African Champions League in his first year in charge before steering the Reds to two straight Egypt Cup titles. 1984 Missing out on two league titles prompted his exit to take over at Emirate side Sharjah, whom he left after a short period to make another swift comeback to Ahli. 1986 Marked his second Ahli stint by another continental feat, claiming the African Cup Winners Cup but a major dispute with the board at the time forced him to leave his boyhood club for good. 1986 Went for another spell in Saudi Arabia but this time to Ittihad's bitter foes Ahli Jeddah, where he spent a couple of unfruitful seasons. 1988 Al-Gohari started his career as Egypt coach, starting his job with the tough task of helping the Pharaohs qualify for the World Cup. 1989 Al-Gohari guided Egypt to the 1990 World Cup in Italy to end a 56-year-wait by beating Algeria 1-0 in a decisive match; an achievement that has been regarded as the major highlight of his glittering career.
Al-Gohari earned a legendary status in Egypt and Jordan 1990 Al-Gohari's Egypt opened their World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, holding then-European champions Holland to a shock 1-1 draw in Palermo before drawing with Ireland and losing to England 1-0 to eventually miss a knockout berth. 1990 Surprisingly, Al-Gohari was sacked by Egypt but it wasn't the World Cup that led to his departure but a rather thumping 6-1 friendly defeat against Greece in October sealed his fate. 1991 Following less than one year, Al-Gohari was then reinstated at the helm after continuous calls from fans and media alike. 1992 Guided Egypt to the 1992 Arab Cup title in Syria by beating Saudi Arabia 3-2 in a dramatic final remembered for the wonder winner scored by Hossam Hassan. 1993 The failure to make it to the 1994 World Cup finals in addition to some poor results in the Nations Cup qualifiers saw Al-Gohari step down in July. In the same year, Al-Gohari accepted a shock offer to manage Zamalek to become the first ever manager to guide both Cairo's perennial rivals; an appointment that marked a glorious era for the Whites under the Ahli legend. He proved his credentials in no time when he helped Zamalek win the Champions League title before overcoming Ahli 1-0 in Johannesburg to chalk up the African Super Cup, courtesy of a famous long-range drive from forward Ayman Mansour. 1994 Despite his feats, it seems that losing the league title to Ahli was not appreciated by the Zamalek board, who decided to part ways with Al-Gohari for what was the same cause that heralded his exit from the other side of Cairo ten years before. 1997 The General was back for a third stint as Egypt manager - following short spells at UAE's Al-Wehda and the Oman national team - at a time the Pharaohs were faltering in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers as it was too late to put them back on track. 1998 After missing out on a World Cup spot, Al-Gohari silenced skeptics by claiming the Africa Cup of Nations title against all odds in Burkina Faso; a milestone that made the General the only man to win the Africa's top tournament as player and coach. 1999 However, history repeated itself when a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in the Confederations Cup in Mexico was enough for Al-Gohari to leave his post as the entire Football Association was sacked as well at the time. 2000 For the fourth time in his career, Al-Gohari proved he would never turn down an offer from the Egypt national team by returning for another tenure that was not as successful as the preceding ones. After succeeding Frenchman Gerard Gili, Al-Gohari's Egypt missed out on a 2002 World Cup spot to Senegal before being knocked out from the CAN quarter-finals by reigning champions Cameroon, signaling the end of his Pharaohs career. 2002 He took charge of Jordan with the challenge to prove that his remarkable success with national teams was not bounded by his country's borders. 2003 Led Jordan to the 2004 Asian Nations Cup for the first time in their history. 2004 A magnificent campaign for the debutants saw Al-Gohari's men secure a surprise quarter-final place in China at the expense of former champions Kuwait, which lifted the Jordanians to their highest all-time FIFA rank of 37th. 2007 Al-Gohari put an end to a stunning coaching career by leaving the Jordan post, much to the disappointment of the country's officials who remained in contact with him. 2009 He worked as a consultant for the Jordanian FA till his death in 2012.
