Sarah Essam Hassanin (; born 6 April 1999) is an Egyptian

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 plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, winger, or

attacker {{For, the term "attacker" in computer security, Hacker (computer security), Adversary (cryptography), Adversary (online algorithm) In some team sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually involved in aggressive play. Heavy attacker ...

for English club Rugby Borough in the

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

and the Egypt women's national team.

College career

Essam enrolled in the

University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...

where she studied civil engineering. She also played for her university team, alongside Stoke, and was awarded a football scholarship for her senior year.

Club career

Essam played soccer with her siblings when she was a child and also played basketball. She joined the academy at Wadi Degla. She made her debut for the first team at age 15 and was the youngest player in the

Egyptian Women's Premier League The Egyptian Women's Premier League () is the top flight of women's association football in Egypt. The competition is run by the Egyptian Football Association. History The championship was created in 1998. Maaden LFC won the first championship as ...

. After playing in Egypt, Essam became the first Egyptian woman to play competitive football in the UK when she signed with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

in 2017. She also tried out at Sunderland, Derby County, and Birmingham. In 2018-19, she was the Stoke City Ladies' Development Team's top scorer, scoring 12 goals in 12 matches and receiving their Golden Boot award. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the English FA's Women's National League season results were expunged, and Essam returned to Egypt to train. In 2022, she signed with Fundacion Albacete in the Primera Federacion, the second division of Spanish women's football. In 2023, she signed with Rugby Borough as part of the team's rebranding efforts.

International career

Essam played with the Egypt U-17 national team in 2016 World Cup qualifiers. At age 16, she was called up to the national team in 2016 to participate in 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, before being dropped for the tournament itself. Essam featured in Egypt's third-place finish at the 2021 Arab Women's Cup, scoring one goal in Egypt's 2-5 semifinal defeat to Jordan. She was called up for 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification in September 2023. She scored in both legs of Egypt's 8-0 aggregate victory over South Sudan.

Personal life

Essam's brother is a former goalkeeper for Al Mokawloon. Essam has worked with fashion designer Deana Shaaban, helping to showcase Shaaban's womenswear collection. She counts Mo Salah as one of her role models. In 2018, Essam was received the Arab Woman of the Year: Achievement in Sport award by the Arab Federation in London. She served as part of the BBC's commentating team for the 2017 CAF Award ceremony, the

2019 Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

and the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

. Essam was an ambassador for the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, working alongside

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

. Essam also signed with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

, making her the first Egyptian footballer the sporting giant has signed.

International goals

References

External links

Sarah Essam
at playmakerstats.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Essam, Sarah 1999 births Egypt women's international footballers Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in England Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Egyptian women's footballers 21st-century Egyptian sportswomen Expatriate women's footballers in England Expatriate women's footballers in Spain Living people Women's association football forwards Women's association football midfielders Women's association football wingers Wadi Degla SC (women) players Egyptian Women's Premier League players