Mohamed Aboutreika

Football player infobox

playername = Mohamed Abou Trika


fullname = Mohamed Abou Trika
nickname = Trika The Smiling Assassin El Fanan (The Artist) El Saher (The Magician)
height = Height|m=1.83
weight = 174 lb (79 kg)
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|11|7
cityofbirth = Giza
countryofbirth = Egypt
currentclub = El Ahly
clubnumber = 22
position = Attacking midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Tersana
years = 2000-2004 2004–present
clubs = Tersana
El Ahly
caps(goals) = ? (22) league only 135 (58) league only
nationalyears = 2004–present
nationalteam = Egypt
nationalcaps(goals) = 55 (15)
pcupdate = 26 september, 2008
ntupdate = 7 September, 2008

Mohamed Aboutreika (sometimes also credited as Mohamed Abou Terika or Mohamed Abou Treika, Arabic: محمد محمد محمد أبو تريكة) (born November 7, 1978) is an Egyptian footballer. Abo Treika plays as a playmaker and attacking midfielder for Egyptian club El Ahly as well as the Egyptian national football team. He has been dubbed as the Egyptian Zinedine Zidane for his technical skill and excellent vision of the field. He was nominated for the 2006 CAF African Footballer of the Year award. Mohamed Abou Trika is renowned in Egypt for his modest personality and kind heart. His trade mark celebration after a goal is to prostrate on the ground in submission and praise of Allah (SWT).

Abou Trika started playing professionally for Egyptian club Tersana before transferring to El-Ahly in January 2004. He was the main reason for his team winning the national league and the CAF champions League two successive times, and maintaining a 71 match unbeaten run. He helped El-Ahly to get the bronze medal in FIFA Club World Cup 2006. He also helped the Egyptian national team to win the African Cup of Nations Egypt 2006, and scored the winner to help Egypt win the 2008 tournament.

Abou Trika's contribution came not only in finding the net but also in creating from his playmaking role behind the strikers. His offensive skills were best demonstrated in his timing, as he often chose the right moment to come forward for shots on goal. He has recently been dubbed "The Smiling Assassin" by foreign media because of his two main trademarks: goalscoring and smiling.

Personal life

Aboutreika is a graduate from Cairo University with a bachelor of arts degree in Philosophy. He is married and has twins, Ahmed and Seif.Fact|date=February 2008

After winning the title of African Champions League 2006 for El-Ahly, he gave a declaration which had been chosen by many newspapers and programs as 'The Declaration of the year'. When newspapers reporters praised him and his goal which they considered the main reason for winning the tournament, he replied, "We need to stop this habit of praising a definite player. It isn't Aboutreika, but the whole team who got the Cup. Without the others' efforts, I can't ever make anything. Football is a game played by many players, it isn't Tennis or Squash."Fact|date=February 2008

Hassan El-Shazli, the former famous Egyptian player, was the first one to discover Aboutreika's talent and develop it. He narrates a story about Aboutreika's manners when he was in Tersana. He said that when the chairman of Tersana club want Aboutreika and a team-mate defender to sign their new contracts, he put a very high salary for Aboutreika compared to that of his team-mate, but Aboutreika refused to sign, and insisted to take the same salary as his team-mate although it was much lower. El-Shazli's attempts failed to persuade Aboutreika that his role for the club is much greater than this defender, and finally, Aboutreika insisted on equality and signed his contract as lower as his team-mate.

As his soccer star status grew in Africa, he turned his sights to humanitarian issues. Aboutreika says:

“Every athlete has a humanitarian role in society. He doesn't live solely for himself, but for others too. I like to participate in charity work and try my best to help the poor and penniless. I'm also seeking to use soccer in humanitarian work."

Based on that idea, Aboutreika joined UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors the Brazilian player Ronaldo, and French player, Zinedine Zidane, in addition to 40 international soccer stars in 2005 for a ‘Match Against Poverty’ in Germany, with the aim of raising funds and increasing awareness about the issue worldwide. He scored in that match. “In that humanitarian match, sports people said ‘no to poverty’ in one strong voice, standing up to beat it once and for all," Aboutreika explains. The match was held in Düsseldorf, Germany with the support of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association FIFA.

One of Aboutreika’s soccer role models, is the Egyptian player, Mahmoud El-Khateeb. Meanwhile, off the pitch he follows the example of the Prophet Mohammed. [cite web | url =http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2149 | title =Egyptian footballer Aboutreika plays against hunger | accessdate =2006-12-09 | publisher =wfp.org | language = ]

He volunteered to appear in a WFP 30-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) in which he draws attention to the tragic fact that 25,000 people die from hunger every day, 18,000 of them children.

“Hunger takes away a child every five seconds. We have to move immediately and lend each other a hand because every second counts. This is a game we have to win,” says Aboutreika in the PSA. The PSA is being aired on Middle Eastern TV stations which are broadcasting it for free.

Aboutreika is a WFP Ambassador Against Hunger. He believes that poverty is a double-edged sword, as it can either give rise to feelings of despair, or help the poor person to persevere and be determined. Aboutreika wishes that all those who suffer from despair could develop determination and face their difficulties with strength.

"Islam deals with the problem of poverty through Zakat (spending a fixed portion of one's wealth for the poor or needy), where the rich feel the plight of the poor," says Aboutreika. "We have to help the poor as much as we can so that they don’t feel alienated in their own society" he says. [cite web | url =http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2284 | title =Mohammad Aboutreika scoring against poverty | accessdate =2006-12-09 | publisher =wfp.org | language = ]

Aboutreika shoted another PSA in Egypt, for helping the children with cancer. He made it for free, and donated funds to help build a hospital for them.

In January 2007, Aboutreika led the Blood Donation Campaign held by Egyptian Ministry of Health. He appeared in PSAs for free and donated with his blood.

ympathize with Gaza

After scoring a goal in Egypt's 3-0 win over Sudan in the 2008 African Cup of Nations, Aboutreika removed his jersey to show a T-shirt reading "Sympathize with Gaza." He was protesting against Israel's 10-day blockade of Gaza, . He was given a yellow card for breaking FIFA's rule against displaying political slogans - which was not - during play, and was said to face possible further sanctions, but finally CAF made no punishments [cite web | url = http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/30/608715 | title =Egypt's Aboutreika in Gaza Slogan Trouble | accessdate =2008-02-07] .

Aboutrika initially did not want to discuss the issue, but he broke his silence and spoke exclusively Al Jazeera's Carrie Brown. He said that his action was a personal statement from himself, as he feels quite sympathy with children of Gaza Strip who are under siege, he feels sorry for their starving and suffering, and has many worries about their safety. Aboutreika affirmed for the Egyptian Football Federation that he is responsible for any problems appearing on surface [cite web | url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-M4g9xWMYE | title =Egypt's Aboutrika has sympathy for Gaza| accessdate =2008-02-08] . Some Arab commentators describes this yellow card as a 'honourable punishment' for any athlete. In Gaza, Palestinian people went out, raising Aboutreika's photos thanking him and appreciating his act. The same scene was replied after the final match, when Aboutreika scored the winning goal for Egypt, many Palestinians went out to celebrate the victory and singing for Aboutreika. Al-Hilal club in Gaza Strip made an honouring ceremony for Aboutreika, where youth team players lift flags reading "Palestine loves Aboutreika", "Aboutreika is my ideal", "Aboutreika, the humanitarian player..Gaza won't forget you" and "Aboutreika, an example of freedom and dignity". Youth team players were wearing Aboutreika's No22 [cite web | url =http://www.el-ahly.com/Sitemanager/templates/egy.aspx?articleid=7701&zoneid=6 | title =Palestine celebrates Aboutreika| accessdate =2008-02-04 | publisher =el-ahly.com | language =ar ] .

Honours

National Team
* Winner of African Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 playing for Egypt.
* Winner of African Cup of Nations Egypt 2006 playing for Egypt.

Club
* Bronze Medalist at FIFA Club World Cup 2006
* Winner of CAF Champions League 2006.
* Winner of CAF Champions League 2005.
* Winner of Egyptian League (2007-2008).
* Winner of Egyptian League (2006-2007).
* Winner of Egyptian League (2005-2006).
* Winner of Egyptian League (2004-2005).
* Winner of African Super Cup (2007).
* Winner of African Super Cup (2006).
* Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2007).
* Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2006).
* Winner of Egyptian Super Cup (2007).
* Winner of Egyptian Super Cup (2006).
* Winner of Egyptian Super Cup (2005).

Individual
* Winner of the 2006 CAF Best African player in Club Competitions. [cite web | url =http://www.cafonline.com/news.php?id=1104 | title = Winners of Glo-CAF Awards 2006 | accessdate =2007-01-03 | publisher =CAF | language = ]
* Nominated for the 2006 CAF African Footballer of the Year award.
* Nominated for the 2006 BBC African Footballer of the Year award. [cite web | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/6200460.stm | title =Five shortlisted for BBC Award | accessdate =2006-12-09 | publisher =BBC | language = ]
* Top scorer in the Egyptian League (2005-2006) with 18 goals.
* Top scorer in the Egyptian Soccer Cup (2007) with 4 goals.
* Top scorer in the CAF Champions League 2006 with 8 goals.
* Top scorer in the FIFA Club World Cup 2006 with 3 goals.
* Best player in Egypt 2007
* Best Player in Egypt 2006.
* Best Player in Egypt 2005.
* Best Player in Egypt 2004.
* Named in the CAF Starting XI in the CAN Egypt 2006.
* Named in the CAF Starting XI in the CAN Ghana 2008.
* Man of the final match in the 2008 African Cup of Nations after scoring the winning goal.

Notes and references

Other References

* [http://www.fifa.com/confederationcup/news/newsid=689327.html/ FIFA.com: Aboutrika, Egypt's crown prince (10 Feb 2008)]
* [http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/awards/index/0,2419,126987,00.html?articleid=126987/ FIFA.com: Fab five to fight it out(05 Dec 2006)]
* [http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/index/0,2527,126171,00.html?articleid=126171/ FIFA.com: CAF African Footballer of the Year]
* [http://www.fifa.com/en/news/interview/0,4323,127063-N,00.html/ FIFA.com: Interview with Aboutreika (06 Dec 2006)]
* [http://www.fifa.com/en/news/feature/0,1451,125215,00.html/ FIFA.com: Another Interview with Aboutreika (08 Nov 2006)]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/5210232.stm/ BBC: Ahly win Egyptian Super Cup]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/6139438.stm/ BBC: Ahly retain African title]
* [http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,127396,00.html?comp=CWC&year=2006&articleid=127396 FIFA.com: Al-Ahly make fast start against Auckland City FC]
* [http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,128008,00.html?comp=CWC&year=2006&articleid=128008 FIFA.com: Aboutreika the star as Al Ahly grab third]
* [http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/index/0,2527,128104,00.html?articleid=128104 FIFA.com: Egypt celebrates Al Ahly achievement]

External links

* [http://ahlyegypt.com/English/FootBall/FirstTeam/ Al-Ahly Sporting Club]