After some spectacular displays on all fronts consolidated his status as a prominent figure at Borussia Dortmund and Egypt, Mohamed Zidan is now facing his sternest challenge yet. The skillful forward's excitement over his substantial progress as a professional footballer turned into fear for his career overnight upon rupturing a cruciate knee ligament in a Bundesliga game. Consequently, Zidan went under the knife and now is preparing for a long road to recovery. The 28-year-old had his ups and downs this term before suffering the biggest below in his career, and overall it's fair to say he had a season to remember. Zidan's ups and downs (2009-2010 season):
Committed to Dortmund •June 2009 (off-season): Zidan received an offer from Premiership side Blackburn Rovers after scoring a brace against Brazil in the FIFA Confederations Cup, but he preferred to stay at Dortmund where he feels comfortable. •July (off-season): The Port Said-born hitman netted two goals in as many friendly matches with Paderborn 07 and Udinese. •August: He scored once in Dortmund's 3-1 victory over Weiden in the German Cup and hit his first league goal against Eintracht Frankfurt, but was heavily criticized and fined by the Egyptian FA for missing an Egypt training camp and a warm-up game with Guinea for no apparent reason. •September: Zidan maintained his incredible club form, having bagged a hat-trick against minows Wanne-Eickel in a friendly meeting and found the net again in the 3-0 win over Karlsruhe in the German Cup. Later on, he explained why he skipped Egypt's training camp, citing 'personal problems' after his engagement to actress Mai Ezz El-Din was broken off. •October: Zidan was granted an Egypt reprieve after apologizing for his behavior, while Algeria defender Anthar Yahia initiated a verbal jousting with the African champions' star ahead both teams' World Cup qualifier in Cairo.
•November: He took part in the qualifying match that the Pharaohs won 2-0, but failed to help his side to another victory in the playoff match that was held four days later. Algeria recorded a 1-0 win to disqualify Hassan Shehata's men and reach the quadrennial competition. •December: The former Werder Bremen man put the World Cup woes behind him and kept on impressing Dortmund's fans. He got his name on the score sheet in the 4-0 thrashing of Nurnberg at Signal Iduna Park. He was also instrumental in the 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg but eventually limped off with a minor thigh injury. •January 2010: Zidan found himself in hot water again when he refused to shake Ahmed Eid's hand and threw his wristband angrily while heading for the dugout upon being taken off in a Nations Cup match. Afterwards, he said sorry and no action was taken against him. his inappropriate act was completely forgotten after the memorable goal he scored in the 4-0 dismantling of Algeria in the semi-finals. •February: Zidan's father claimed that heavyweights Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona were targeting his son, in the wake of Egypt's third successive Nations Cup triumph. No tangible offers were tabled though. •March: Again Zidan excelled with Egypt by notching up a sensational opening goal against England, to become the first Egyptian player to score against the Three Lions who ultimately won the friendly 3-1. He also put in more impressive performances at club level, having reveled in an incredible brace against Monchengladbach and scored once in the 4-1 win over Bochum. •April: Zidan faced a lengthy six-month layoff after sustaining a serious cruciate ligament injury in Dortmund's 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim. He underwent surgery and now is determined to regain the form that drew the attention of many European outfits.
