Egypt's football team captain Ahmed Hassan has chosen to play for Ahli after ending his 10-year career in Europe. Inas Mazhar finds out why Despite reaching an agreement with Ahli regarding the money to be paid for signing the player, Egyptian midfield maestro Ahmed Hassan has not yet signed on the dotted line. "I can't sign a contract now with Ahli until my contract with Anderlecht expires in May. It's a matter of principles and ethics. However, I have agreed with Ahli on everything and I informed the Belgium side of my departure." Last year, Hassan announced his intention to return to Cairo after a successful journey as a professional player in Turkey and Belgium. "It's time I return to Egypt. I have a family and I want to be with them," Hassan, a father of two boys and a girl, told Al-Ahram W eekly. "When they were young, they stayed with me in Turkey, but now they go to school in Cairo, the two boys Al-Hassan and Al-Habib, and they only visit me in Belgium during vacations. I need to stay with my family and in my country and I don't want my children to grow up in Europe. It's true there are some advantages of living there but we have different traditions as Arabs and Muslims and this is the environment I would like my children to grow up in. So, I decided to return to Egypt and I think this is the right time to do it." Since the 32-year-old Egyptian team captain announced his desire to return to Cairo, rumours have linked him with the two biggest clubs in Egypt, Ahli and Zamalek. But he chose Ahli for several reasons. "When a footballer decides to end his career, he has to choose a big name and there is no bigger name in Egypt and Africa than Ahli. I felt I would be secure there." "It's true, there had been negotiations all through last year with both Ahli and Zamalek, but I am a professional player and I have made clear several times that I will select the best offer. Officials from both clubs approached me seriously and I know each side wanted to have me, but Ahli made the best offer which means they appreciate my name and my history in Egyptian football. So I couldn't turn them down." Hassan confirmed that when selecting a club, he wasn't considering only the money but other things as well. "If I was looking for just money, the Belgium club Anderlecht and other clubs from Europe and the Gulf made me lucrative offers and more than Ahli, but I wanted to return to my country. "Ahli is a winning team and there has been stability within the management in the past decade. It gives me peace of mind. Any player will give his best if he is playing under such peaceful conditions. It would allow the player to focus on the game and not worry about administration problems. "Zamalek is also a big team and will remain so despite the recent problems and setbacks the club is suffering from but it will take time. I'm on very good terms with the club president Mamdouh Abbas. He's like a father to me. But I am a player after all and have to think about my future." The Egyptian midfielder started his football career in Aswan Club in Upper Egypt in the lower divisions. After one season there, he moved to the more successful Ismaili. He was 20 when he was selected for the first time for Egypt in a friendly against Ghana on 29 December 1995. After his impressive performances with the Egyptian national team in the African Cup of Nations 1998, including scoring the winning goal from long range against South Africa in the final that helped win the tournament, Hassan joined Turkish side Kocaelispor at the age of 22. In 2000, he was transferred to Denizlispor. In 2001, he joined his Egyptian international teammate Abdel-Zaher El-Sakka when he moved to Genclerbirligi. After three successful seasons with the club, during which the team twice made the Turkish Cup final, he moved to Besiktas where he was a first team regular as well as a regular on the team's scoring sheet. He particularly impressed manager Jean Tigana who despite being known for selecting younger players for his first team, still regarded the 30-year-old Hassan a key player in the squad. "Hassan is a hardworking player who is quick and talented," Tigana said. "His only problem is not liking team play. He wants to be free on the pitch. He is my irregular prince as he doesn't play in the team system." Tigana's remark was picked up by Egyptian newspapers and reports said Ahli's head coach Manuel Jose was worried about Hassan possessing the ball for too long. Hassan is not the only distinguished midfielder in Ahli. Mohamed Abou Treika, Ahmed Fathi, Hossam Ashour and Moetaz Eno make up an impressive centre field. Hassan has played in six African Cup of Nations tournaments for Egypt, winning the tournament three times, first in 1998 and again in 2006 and 2008. In the African Cup of Nations 2006, he was chosen as captain of his country and helped the team's cause with four goals in six matches, which placed him as second top goal scorer. He was named best player of the tournament. Hassan made six appearances in the African Nations Cup and captained Egypt to their sixth African Cup of Nations victory in 2008. Hassan is one of only a handful of players who have earned more than 100 international caps for Egypt. After 2006, Fulham, Newcastle United and Espanyol were reportedly interested in signing him. However, he chose to move to R.S.C. Anderlecht, the Belgian champions, on a free transfer after he chose not to extend his contract with Besiktas which ended in 2006. Hassan joined Anderlecht due to its automatic qualification to the UEFA Champions League. He has been an important part of the Anderlecht attack, setting up and scoring goals. Currently, his position in the midfield is in front of Lucas Biglia and Jan Polàk, just behind strikers Serhat Akin and Nicolas Frutos. At Anderlecht , Hassan was and still is the backbone of his club's winning the Belgium national league. He became the first Egyptian player to have won a major tournament with a European club. After winning the Nations Cup in Ghana, Hassan returned to Belgium but was fined 20,000 euros for being late. He graciously accepted to pay the fine. "I apologise and accept all sanctions, because these are the club's regulations." Hassan said he was thankful to everyone for giving him a hero's welcome at the airport and explained his delayed return. "I had to rest after our victory in Ghana. Besides, I had to be present at the meeting with our country's president. I also sustained a slight injury during the final. If you travel, like me, from the Belgium league to the UEFA Cup to the Africa Cup of Nations, you need rest and being able to spend time with the family. All these matches bring a lot of stress with them. From now on, I can concentrate completely on Anderlecht." Anderlecht manager Herman Van Holsbeeck said: "Hassan proved at the Africa Cup of Nations that he's more than a number 10. Last year, Hassan played an important role to help Anderlecht win the league. It's up to Hassan to prove that he can find that level again." The pharaohs captain's successful career in Belgium has made him the best Arab footballer in Europe in a poll conducted by the Egyptian sports magazine Al-Ahram Al-Arabi. At the beginning of the year, the Anderlecht midfielder was runner up in the vote for best player in Belgium behind his Belgium rival the 19-year-old Steven Defoer from Standard Liege. "I'm not surprised I came second. I understand it should be a Belgian who wins the award, but everyone in Belgium knows who should have won it. It was me who deserved to win the Footballer of the Year award," Hassan told the W eekly while in Ghana. Previous African winners of Belgian football's top award have been Aruna Dindane of Cote d'Ivoire and Morocco midfielder Mbark Boussoufa. But Hassan was later named among the 25 best foreign footballers to have ever played in the Belgian league. A survey of leading footballing personalities in Belgium placed Hassan in 21st place in the poll, one of only two Africans featured on the list. Just above him is the Ivorian Dindane, who now plays for Racing Lens in France. Belgium has had 1486 foreign footballers in their first division, the survey said. The first were also from Africa -- the Congolese Leon Mokuna and Paul Bonga Bonga.
