Essam El-Hadary is a true legend of African football.
It is actually a shame that he did not become a world star, having only played for one club outside of Africa – FC Sion in Switzerland in the 2008-09 season.
The Egyptian goalkeeper has won everything there is to win on the continent – four Africa Cup of Nations titles, four Caf Champions Leagues (all with Al Ahly), numerous Egyptian league trophies… the list goes on.
He’s also been described by Didier Drogba as his “best opponent”.
Now at the grand sporting age of 44, one of El-Hadary’s finest moments in an unbelievable career came on Wednesday night during the Afcon semi-final against Burkina Faso in Libreville.
He was bombarded by the dominant Burkinabe forwards, making his first significant save as early as the eighth minute, when Blati Toure shot from the edge of the box and El-Hadary dived to his right.
The Egypt No 1 hadn’t conceded a goal in the Afcon in over 10 hours of play since 2010, and even when the dynamic Aristide Bancé banged in the equaliser with just over 15 minutes left, El-Hadary still stood tall to deny Burkina for the rest of the night. Not even the draining 30 minutes of extra time got him down – his last block coming with 30 seconds to go from Banou Diawara when he brilliantly tipped a looping ball over the crossbar.
But the man dubbed the “High Dam” wasn’t done yet. El-Hadary – whose youngest teammate (20-year-old Ramadan Sobhi) is of a similar age as his daughter – stopped two penalties in the decisive shoot-out, from opposite number Kouakou Koffi and Bertrand Traore, to clinch victory for the Pharoahs and a passage to Sunday’s final.
El-Hadary is known to sometimes be a bit jittery when dealing with crosses, and that was evident on Wednesday night too. But he was ultimately the hero, and it will be a fairytale story if he can hold the Afcon trophy aloft as the captain of Egypt on Sunday against either Ghana or Cameroon, who contest the second semi-final on Thursday night.
El-Hadary’s heroics are a lesson for sport in South Africa. As fans, coaches, selectors and critics, we tend to want to discard the more experienced members of our local teams too quickly once they go past 30.
Sure, goalkeepers would naturally last longer than most sportsmen due to the nature of their roles, but the theory still stands for other positions.
In recent seasons at the Springboks, Bryan Habana has often been brought up as someone who should be making way for the “younger generation”.
But is there really a better wing in South Africa than Habana? We’ve all been waiting for Seabelo Senatla to leave sevens, and he’s about to do so. Imagine how much he could learn from playing alongside Habana, who is still playing well at the age of 33?
In cricket, some people may feel that it’s no big deal if AB de Villiers (who turns 33 in two weeks’ time) doesn’t play Test matches as the five-day side have won series without him in recent months. But won’t the Proteas be significantly stronger with De Villiers in the line-up?
We’ve seen it in the Bafana team too. Benni McCarthy was controversially omitted from the squad for the 2010 World Cup on home soil by coach Carlos Alberto Parreira due to fitness concerns. McCarthy, arguably South Africa’s finest ever striker, was just 32 then, and proved that he’s still got it by winning the PSL title with Orlando Pirates in 2012.
Of course, science and fitness play a huge role in sport these days, which leads to teams getting younger in order to keep up with the opposition.
But there should always be room for that “old pro” who has been through it all and still has the ability to make a difference. It may be through that crucial try, wicket or goal, but also off the field in helping to develop the next generation.