Only three teams have won the CAF African Cup of Nations title four or more times – Egypt, Cameroon and Ghana. But for the Egyptian duo of Ahmed Hassan and Essam el-Hadary, they have individually won the continent’s most prestigious title four times each.
Both helped Egypt to AFCON glory in 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010, with Hassan playing in the four editions, while El-Hadary was an unused sub in 1998.
Hassan played 22 matches in the process, scoring eight goals. He was named Most Valuable player of the tournament twice, in Egypt 2006 and Angola 2010.
While El-Hadary played 18 matches, and was the shootout hero in the 2006 final, saving two penalties from Didier Drogba and his teammates. He was named as best goalkeeper three times in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
Burkina Faso 1998
While El-Hadary deputized for unused sub to Nader el-Sayed, Hassan played in five of Egypt’s six games in the tournament, missing only the group stage defeat to Morocco.
He scored the opening goal in the 2-0 win over South Africa in the final.
Egypt 2006
Both El-Hadary and Hassan played in all Egypt’s six games in the tournament. The goalkeeper conceded three times, while Hassan scored four goals; against Libya, DR Congo (2) and Senegal.
He also missed a penalty in the final against Côte d’Ivoire during extra time before scoring from the spot in the shootout.
El-Hadary was the hero stopping two of the Ivorians kicks from Didier Drogba and Bakary Kone. They were both included in the team of the tournament, while Hassan was named Most Valuable Player.
Ghana 2008
While El-Hadary played every minute of Egypt’s six games on their way to the title conceding five times, Hassan missed the first group game against Cameroon, playing five games without scoring.
El-Hadary was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper for the second time in a row.
Angola 2010
El-Hadary once again played every minute in Egypt’s road to the seventh title, conceding two goals in the process. Hassan took part in Egypt’s six games scoring three goals.
He opened Egypt’s account against Nigeria in the group stage, before scoring a brace against Cameroon in the quarterfinals.
He was once again named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, while El-Hadary was the best goalkeeper for the third time running.
El-Gohary and Keshi, a feat for two
In the history of the African Cup of Nations, only two men won the title as player and coach.
Egyptian Mahmoud el-Gohary won the second edition of the tournament in 1959 as a player, and he later guided the Pharaohs to their fourth title in 1998.
While Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi was the Super Eagles captain when they won their second title in 1994, before steering them to their third glory as coach in 2013.
El-Gohary – top scorer, winning coach
Mahmoud el-Gohary opened the second AFCON edition goals in 1959. At his favourite grounds, Cairo International Stadium, the Al-Ahly forward scored a hat-trick when Egypt defeated Ethiopia 4-0 in the 1959 opening game, to start their way to a successive, which was secured thanks to a 2-1 win over Sudan.
El-Gohary’s three goals were enough to see him finish as the tournament’s top scorer, cafonline.com reported.
Almost four decades later, 39 years to be precise, he guided the Pharaohs to their then fourth AFCON title in Burkina Faso 1998.
Under El-Gohary, Egypt defeated South Africa 2-0 in the final to lift the trophy with the likes of Hossam Hassan, Ahmed Hassan, Hazem Emam among others.
El-Gohary had a brilliant coaching career that saw him winning CAF Champions League titles with Cairo rivals, Al-Ahly (1982) and Zamalek (1993).
He led Egypt to their second FIFA World Cup appearance in Italy 1990, and had spells with Oman and Jordan national teams, besides clubs in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE. The iconic figure passed away in August 2012, aged 74.
Keshi – Captain fantastic, coach glorious
Keshi captained Nigeria’s golden generation of 1994 that included the likes of Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Samson Siasia, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha and others, as they reached the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history in USA, and won African Cup of Nations title in Tunisia same year.
A defender in the ranks of French based RC Strasbourg then, Keshi featured in Nigeria’s road to the final where they defeated Zambia 2-1 to raise the trophy, despite missing the final through injury.
In 2013 Keshi joined El-Gohary, by becoming the second person to win the AFCON title as player and coach, when he led the Super Eagles to their third trophy in South Africa, beating Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final.
Another highlight of Keshi’s coaching career was guiding Togo successfully in the qualifiers of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but missed out on the final tournament in Germany after being replaced by German Otto Pfister.
He also guided the Super Eagles to the second round in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He also had a short spell with Mali. Keshi died in June 2016, aged 54.
