Ahmed Rifaat (; 21 July 1942 – 13 December 2017) was an Egyptian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and player, who was the head coach of

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

Biography

Rifaat was born on 21 July 1942 in

Bulaq Boulaq ( from "guard, customs post"), is a district of Cairo, in Egypt. It neighbours Downtown Cairo, Azbakeya, and the River Nile. History The westward shift of the Nile, especially between 1050 and 1350, made land available on its eastern si ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Egypt. He started his professional football career in

in 1961, he won with his team the

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League (), also known as the Nile League () for sponsorship reasons, after the addition of title sponsor Nile Developments, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the highest level of the Egyptian football ...

title in ( 1963–64, 1964–65). He also won with Zamalek the

Egypt Cup The Egypt Cup (also known as the Egyptian FA Cup and formerly as the King Farouk Cup) is the main knockout football cup competition in Egypt. It is the oldest club competition in Africa. The first team to win the trophy was Zamalek in 1922. Al A ...

once in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

. Rifaat played his whole career in Zamalek. With

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, Rifaat played in the

1962 African Cup of Nations The 1962 African Cup of Nations was the third edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. Nine countries entered the competition, including the reigning champions Egypt, meaning for ...

and Egypt finished second. He also was a part of the team that finished fourth in

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo. Rifaat played in the

1965 Arab Games The 4th Arab Games, a regional multi-sport event held in Arab countries, were held in Cairo, Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asi ...

, and scored a goal against

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, where Egypt won 14–0, the hosts won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. Rifaat retired in 1973. After his retirement, Rifaat worked as a coach. In 1996, Rifaat was appointed as Zamalek's coach for a brief period, in the same year he coached Al Masry. In the 1996–1997, he coached

Suez SC Suez Sporting Club (), also known as Suez Montakhab, is an Egyptian football club based in Suez, Egypt. The club currently plays in the Egyptian Second Division, the second-highest league in the Egyptian football league system. History After two ...

. He became the manager of Dina Farms in 1998, and coached the team for three seasons to 2001. He was appointed Al Mokaweloon for the 2001–02 season. He had brief spells in

Al-Majd SC Al-Majd Sports Club () is a Syrian professional football club based in Damascus. The club is insignificant compared to the city rival Al-Wahda (Damascus), Al-Wahda, but more popular than the other rival Al-Jaish SC (Syria), Al-Jaish. History The ...

and the Syria national team. Afterwards, he was again Zamalek's manager for one season in 2005. He went to Bahrain, and managed the Bahraini side Malkiya in 2005–06. He was back to his home club and worked as Zamalek's assistant manager in 2008–09. Rifaat died at the age of 75, on 13 December 2017 in

Honours

Zamalek *

: 1963–64, 1964–65 *

Egypt *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

: runner-up

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

: fourth place

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

Arab Games The Arab Games (), also known as the Pan-Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandr ...

Gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rifaat, Ahmed 1942 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Egyptian sportsmen Egyptian men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Zamalek SC players Egyptian football managers Zamalek SC managers Syria national football team managers Malkiya Club managers African Games bronze medalists for Egypt African Games bronze medalists in football