Mohamed Barakat

Mohamed Barakat (Arabic: محمد بركات‎; born 7 September 1900) is a retired Egyptian footballer. A right-footed playmaker, Barakat usually played as an offensive right winger or attacking midfielder for Egyptian club Al Ahly and the Egyptian National Team. He is considered by many as one of the most talented players in Africa. Barakat's hallmarks are surging runs from midfield which often disrupt opposing defences, as well as his box-to-box work ethic, which makes him an important figure both in defence and attack. Thanks to his noticeable achievements and talent, his fans have given him the nickname The Mercurial (Arabic: بركات الزئبقي‎), He reached his peak in 2005 and 2006, helping his club Al Ahly to win the CAF Champions League 2005 and CAF Champions League 2006 and Egypt win their fifth African Cup of Nations Egypt 2006. However, in 2006 his career was marred by a long spell of injuries.

Not to be confused with Mohammed Barakat.

Mohamed Barakat
Personal information
Full name Mohamed Barakat Ahmed Bastamy
Date of birth (1976-09-07) 7 September 1976
Place of birth Cairo, Egypt
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
El Sekka El Hadid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1998 El Sekka El Hadid 21 (6)
1998–2002 Ismaily 79 (14)
2002–2003 Al Ahli Saudi 21 (10)
2003–2004 Al Arabi 9 (0)
2004–2013 Al Ahly 149 (41)
National team
2000–2010 Egypt 70 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Early career

Barakat began his career at unheralded Sekka but really found his feet when he joined Al-Ismaily – just about the only club in Egypt with the ability to stand up to the 'big boys' of Al Ahly and Zamalek.

Gulf Countries

The 2002 Egyptian Footballer of the Year has joined Ahly Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. He helped the later win 2003 Arab Club Championship. Barakat scored twice in that tournament; including the Final winner goal. and then going to Alarabi in Qatar.

Al Ahly

Barakat returned to Egypt in 2004 to join Al Ahly. Some have commented that the combination with Mohamed Aboutrika and Emad Moteab formed the most formidable triangle in African Soccer, and they were given the moniker of "The Bermuda Triangle".

Mohamed Barakat won the BBC African Footballer of 2005 award ahead of Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and Obafemi Martins of Nigeria.[1] More than 15,000 voted for him. He was also named the best player in Africa's continental club competition by the African Football Association for the same year, as he scored 7 goals in the CAF Champions League 2005. Barakat started the season of 2013 with some bad performances, but after sometime he got back to his perfect form and scored in the CAF Super Cup 2013 the winning goal, which led Al Ahly to win the cup. After he played a match against Benzarty match in CAF Champions League 2013 and scored a goal from a penalty, he also made an assist to Emad Meteb. Two weeks later there were rumors of his retirement and Barakat admitted he was thinking of retiring because he is 37 years old. After with two days Barakat scored two goals against Enpii in the Egyptian league from a penalty and a shot. People all thought and said Barakat still has one or two seasons ahead after that amazing performance and goals and that he looked like he was eighteen while playing even though he is 37, but unfortunately three weeks after, Barakat announced that he was going to retire at the end of this season, putting an end to the career.

Retirement

After the Port Said Stadium clashes, on 1 February 2012, Barakat decided to retire from professional football, along with Emad Motaeb and Mohamed Aboutrika. However, he reversed his decision and returned to Al Ahly once again.[2]

International career

Barakat made his debut for the Pharaohs in June 2000 against South Korea. He played 4 matches in 2002 African Cup of Nations and all Egypt's matches in 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. Barakat ended his international career on 18 November 2009 after his dream to reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup was crashed by Algeria that won 1–0, he told the press about that discussion on 11 August 2010.

International goals
Source: [3]
GoalDateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
111 Mar 2001Egypt Algeria5–22002 FIFA World Cup qualification1
224 Apr 2001Egypt Canada3–0Friendly1
313 July 2001Egypt Namibia8–22002 FIFA World Cup qualification2
58 Aug 2002Egypt Ethiopia4–1Friendly1
623 Aug 2002Egypt Sudan3–0Friendly2
825 Jan 2004Stade Taïeb Mhiri, Sfax, Tunisia Zimbabwe2–12004 African Cup of Nations1
95 Nov 2009Egypt Tanzania5–1Friendly1

Honours and achievements

Club
Ismaily
Al Ahli Saudi
Al Ahly

International
Egypt

Awards

Performances

References
  1. "Egyptian Barakat wins BBC award ", BBC, 6 January 2006. Retrieved on 4 May 2010.
  2. "Egypt football riots: three Egypt internationals retire after mass deaths in stadium riot". The Telegraph. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  3. Said, Tarek "Barakat's international caps & goals", Egyptian Football.net. Retrieved on 2 May 2010
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