Hossam Ghaly

Early career

Ghaly is a product of Al Ahly youth team, and he broke into the first team squad in 1997, he was only 16 when he joined the first team. He played regularly for Al-Ahly winning the league and the Egyption cup twice until he moved to Feyenoord Rotterdam in 2003, despite interest from numerous other European clubs such as VfB Stuttgart and FC Nantes. The transfer fee was said to be around €1.4 million.

Tottenham Hotspur

After three troublesome seasons in the Netherlands, Ghaly joined Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League in January 2006. Their rivals Arsenal had been interested before he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract at Tottenham. Ghaly was given the number 14 jersey and made his debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 9 September 2006. He scored his first goal for Spurs in the UEFA Cup against Beşiktaş on 19 October 2006. During a game against rivals Chelsea on 11 March 2007, he gave Spurs a temporary 3–1 lead in the FA Cup. A week later Ghaly scored his only Premier League goal, in a 3–1 win over Watford. A foul on Ghaly in the middle of the penalty box against Blackburn Rovers saw Jermain Defoe score a penalty kick which resulted in the game ending in 1–1 draw. Ghaly's second encounter with Blackburn however is remembered merely due to its affiliation with infamy. His future at Tottenham was left in doubt after he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the ground after being substituted during a Premier League match against…

In 2010 Ghaly was a regular starter and a key midfielder with Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations. In the final Egypt beat Ghana 1-0. Hossam Ghaly was left out of Egypt’s squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania following a disciplinary dispute with coach Hector Cúper. Reports said Ghaly had insulted teammates during training before Egypt’s victory over Nigeria, prompting Cúper to demand an apology before considering him for future international matches.

Al Ahly Egyptian Premier League: 1999–2000, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 Egypt Cup: 2000-01, 2002–03, 2016–17 Egyptian Super Cup: 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16 CAF Champions League: 2012 Egypt Africa Cup of Nations: 2010