Essam Baheeg (; 26 February 1931 – 4 December 2008) was an Egyptian football manager and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger for

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 ...

. He also played for the Egyptian national team, and was a part of the team that won the 1959 Africa Cup of Nations, and scored the two winning goals for his country in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He was an iconic player in

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 ...

and one of the best of his generation. As a manager, Baheeg coached Zamalek for only one season, succeeding to win 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 ...

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 ...

Afro-Asian Club Championship The Afro-Asian Club Championship, sometimes referred to as the Afro-Asian Cup, was a football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between the winners of the Africa ...

and the Friendship International Cup.

Early life

Baheeg was born on 26 February 1931 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt to a middle class family. He started playing football in the streets of the city. Afterwards, he played for

Mansoura Mansoura (; ', , rural: ) is a city in Egypt located on the eastern bank of the Damietta branch of the Nile river. The city is the capital of the Dakahlia Governorate and has a population of 621,953 as of 2021. Etymology ''Mansoura'' in Arabic ...

youth teams. He then moved to

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 ...

to enlist to

Egyptian Military Academy Egyptian Military Academy is the most prominent military academy in Egypt. Traditionally, graduates of the Military Academy are commissioned as officers in the Egyptian Armed Forces The Egyptian Armed Forces () are the military forces of the E ...

in mid-1940s.

Playing career

Club career

Essam Baheeg's talent was discovered by

's president

Mohammed Haidar Pasha Mohamed Haidar Sayed El Heiny (; 10 December 1887 – 1 October 1957) was an Egyptian military officer and politician. Haidar Pasha served in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and played a leading role in the Egyptian politics before the 1952 Egypt ...

who chose Baheeg for the club's youth team when he was 18 years old. In 1949, Baheeg played for Zamalek's first team, and quickly became a key player for Zamalek, thanks to his talent and skills, he reached fame at a young age. Baheeg was known for his loyalty and sincerity to Zamalek, this increased his popularity among the clubs' fans and the Egyptian football fans in general. He played for eleven seasons for Zamalek which he played for in his entire professional career. Despite his short career as a professional player, due to his early retirement, Baheeg won with his team six titles of the

( 1951–52, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60). He also won with Zamalek the

Cairo League The Cairo League was an Official Egyptian football tournament. Before the start of Egyptian Premier League in its current form, the main competition was the Egypt Cup which started in 1922. The first season was played in 1922–23 and was won by Z ...

for three consecutive seasons in (1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53). In his last season, Baheeg won with Zamalek the

title in ( 1959–60), he was one of the most valuable players in this season. He did not play for any other club throughout his 12-year football career, he's considered an icon and symbol for the club throughout its history. Baheeg retired from football in 1960.

International career

With his country, he played with

for eleven years, from 1949 till his retirement. He was called for the Summer Olympic Games and was a part of Egypt's squad that participated in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

in Helsinki, but did not play in any matches. He played for his country in the

1959 African Cup of Nations The 1959 African Cup of Nations was the second edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Football (soccer), football championship between the national teams of Africa, organised by the Confederation of African Football (Confederation of African Fo ...

, and participated in the two matches against the

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. He scored his country's two winning goals in the

against Sudan and led his country to win their second title. Baheeg also scored a famous goal in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

from forty yards in the football finals of the

1955 Mediterranean Games The 1955 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the II Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Barcelona 1955, were the 2nd Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Barcelona, Spain over 10 days, from 15 to 25 July 1955, where 1,135 athle ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, in which Egypt 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 ...

Coaching career

Baheeg coached the

National Bank of Egypt SC National Bank of Egypt Sporting Club () is an Egyptian football club based in Cairo. The club was founded in 1951. The National Bank of Egypt SC is mainly known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier Lea ...

in the 1970s, and coached

in the 1987-88 season and achieved the 1987–88 Egyptian League, the 1988 Egypt Cup, and the

1987 Afro-Asian Club Championship The 1987 Afro-Asian Club Championship, was the 2nd Afro-Asian Club Championship competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between the winners of the African Champions' Cu ...

, in addition to winning the Friendship Cup. He coached

El Qanah FC El-Qanah Football Club (), also known as Canal SC or Suez Canal, is an Egyptian football club based in Ismailia, Egypt. The club currently plays in the Egyptian Second Division, the second-highest league in the Egyptian football league system. H ...

in the 1999-2000 season, coached El Sharkia SC in the 2000-01 season, and Sohag SC in the 2001-02 season. He won the elections and was a board member of Zamalek. Baheeg holds the record for Zamalek as the only coach who achieved 10 consecutive wins in the Egyptian League, and this number has not been broken yet with any other coach.

Personal life and death

Baheeg was known for his numerous relationships with women during his football career, he was a rich topic for tabloids in the 1950s. He presented his personal experience in the film ''Talk of the City'' (1964) alongside

Shwikar Shwikar Ibrahim ( ; 4 November 1938 – 14 August 2020) was an Egyptian actress. She started her career in Alexandria in some tragedic roles before she was discovered by the Egyptian film director A film director or filmmaker is a person ...

. He starred in the film alongside his colleague Hanafy Bastan and Ali Mohsen who appeared in the film, but Bastan and Baheeg acted in the film after their retirement from football. Essam_Baheeg_-_Nahed_Gabr

While filming ''Talk of the City'' in 1964, Baheeg met actress Nahed Gabr, and quickly they fell in love with each other and got married in

and had a son and a daughter, but they separated and divorced later, however, they remarried again in the 1980s and remained married until his death. Baheeg was an influential star in

, as he was one of the most prominent players in the national team. He was connected in the Egyptian movie business and had close relationships in the Egyptian intellectual community at that time. He had several film stars and singers as friends such as

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

. Baheeg died on 4 December 2008 at the age of 77, in Cairo, Egypt.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Player

;Zamalek SC: *

: (6) *: 1951–52, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60 *

: (3) *: 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53 *

: (1) *: 1959–60 ;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 ...

: (1) *:

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

: (1) *:

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Head coach

;Zamalek SC: *

: (1) *: 1987–88 *

: (1) *:

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

* Friendship International Cup: (1) *: 1988

Filmography

*'' Talk of the City'' (Hadeeth Al-Madina ): 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baheeg, Essam 1931 births 2008 deaths Egyptian men's footballers Egypt men's international footballers Zamalek SC players 1959 African Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Egypt Zamalek SC managers Footballers from Alexandria Egyptian Premier League players Mediterranean Games medalists in football Men's association football wingers Egyptian football managers 20th-century Egyptian sportsmen