Egypt's and Ahly's talented midfielder Ahmed Hassan has now played for his country a record-breaking 172 times. The veteran shone in Angola's African Cup of Nations (ACN), which ended on Sunday, helping Egypt win this prestigious tournament for the seventh time and the third time in a row. The 34-year-older has now surpassed legendary striker Hossam Hassan, who appeared in 169 internationals for Egypt. A clutch of Egyptian players, including Ibrahim Hassan and Hani Ramzi as well as Cameroon's Rigobert Song, have each won at least a century of caps for their respective countries. Ahmed Hassan is Africa's most-capped international. Saudi Arabia's Mohamed al-Deayea has 181 international appearances and Mexico's Claudio Suarez 178. "It was a dream to become Egypt's most-capped player," Hassan said after breaking the record. Hassan made his international debut in a friendly against Ghana on December 29, 1995, as a raw 20-year-older. In over 14 years of international football action, the former Belgium's Anderlecht and Besiktas of Turkey midfielder has won ACN winner's medals in 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was picked as the best player in Angola 2010. Hassan, who was born in 1975 in the Upper Egyptian Governorate of el-Minya, started playing football in Aswan as a junior. He was then 16 years old. In 1997, he moved to Ismaili, where he performed brilliantly, leading to his being selected to play for his country in the ACN in Burkina Faso in 1998. Hassan went on to score the opener against South Africa in the final. In 2006, Hassan helped the Pharaohs win the ACN for the fifth time, when it was held here in Egypt. He was named the best player on that occasion too. After the tournament four years ago, Hassan, know as 'The Hawk', moved to Anderlecht, which won the league for two successive years in 2006 and 2007. He returned in the summer of 2008 to join Egypt's champions Ahly, with whom he has won the league title and the African Champions League. Hassan spent ten years in Europe, shining in soccer there. He was named the second best player in Turkey three years ago. The Hawk, who is Ahly's top scorer in the Egyptian Premier League so far this season with seven goals, has no plans to retire from international soccer. “I won't give up playing, as long as I'm still in good shape,” he said after winning the African Cup of Nations with his team on Sunday. “I'm considering playing in the next World Cup qualifiers and African Cup of Nations.”
