Sports
Ahly Confirms Aboutrika’s Retirement
Mohamed Aboutrika has officially retired after confirming his decision to his club Al Ahly.
The 35-year-old Egyptian midfielder announced his intention to retire after the quarter-final of the Club World Cup in Morocco and Ahly failed to persuade him to play one more season.
Aboutrika’s last match was against Guangzhou on 14 December, a 2-0 defeat in which he limped off at half-time.
He then missed Ahly’s fifth-place play-off loss to Monterrey.
It was not the farewell Ahly or their fans wanted for Aboutrika, who has been at the heart of the Pharaohs for nearly a decade and has won a remarkable five African Champions League titles with Ahly.
The club’s board member Khaled Mortagy said last week: “Aboutrika is a great icon and his retirement would be a big loss for Egyptian football.
“He is a role model on and off the pitch. Egyptian football may not see his like again for 20 to 30 years.”
Aboutrika, who amassed over 100 international caps, won successive African Nations Cup titles with Egypt in 2006 and 2008 although he missed the 2010 tournament, which Egypt also won, through injury.
He scored a record 14 goals for Egypt in World Cup qualifiers although that was not enough to fulfil his dream of playing at the finals.
Despite Egypt’s success in the Nations Cup, their only appearances in the sport’s showpiece event were in 1934 and 1990 and their attempt to qualify for Brazil effectively ended with a 7-3 aggregate defeat by Ghana in the play-offs.
Aboutrika, a philosophy graduate, is equally popular for his stance on political and humanitarian issues.
After scoring against Sudan in the 2008 African Nations Cup final against Cameroon, he lifted up his shirt to reveal a T-shirt with the message “Sympathise with Gaza”, earning a reprimand from tournament organisers.
He was widely reported to have carried a dying teenager from the field in his arms during the Port Said stadium disaster in February 2012, where more than 70 people lost their lives, and he spent the next two weeks attending funerals.
Guangzhou coach Marcello Lippi made a point of praising Aboutrika after their game.
“I would like to congratulate him for his outstanding career,” said the Italian World Cup winner. “I’m unhappy for him if this should be his last game.”
The championship will run from today to October 12 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. On the ground for the championship are athletes from Brazil, Peru, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Rwanda. They arrived on Sunday.
Some of the other countries were expected in the Abia State capital yesterday. Speaking on the championship, yesterday, Abia State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nwobilor Ananaba, said the chief host, Governor Alex Otti, has mobilised facilities and the personnel to ensure a successful event.
Speaking through the Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Raymond Chima Ukwa, said: “We have the best mats, playing mats, especially the wheelchair playing mats, which is the first of its kind in West Africa.
“If you go around, you’ll see the hall and the preparation that has been made to ensure that people have an equitable world-class playing field.” Thrilled by Governor Otti’s support for the competition, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) President, Francis Orbih, said that, besides making all the necessary arrangements that will ensure a successful hosting of the events, “we will have a Para-Badminton workshop for coaches and players.
“Nigeria is doing well, Abia is doing well, and we want to do better to improve on where we are, which is why all these have been put together by Governor Otti.”
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles began their campaign at the 24th FIFA U20 World Cup with a narrow 1–0 loss to Norway on Monday, despite creating several opportunities to level the game.
Norway took the lead in the 9th minute after being awarded a controversial penalty. The Flying Eagles pressed for an equaliser but were denied two penalty claims in the second half.
Kparobo Arierhi came close in the 47th minute when his shot drifted wide with the goalkeeper beaten, while Tahir Maigana struck the upright in the 63rd minute.
Nasiru Salihu’s rising effort in the 71st minute also went narrowly over the bar, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Seven minutes from time, Maigana again tested Norway with a long-range strike that went just wide as Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure.
Despite their dominance, the Flying Eagles could not find the breakthrough and now turn their attention to Thursday’s clash against Saudi Arabia in their second group match.
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