.jpg) Khalil withZamalek in 1978 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1952-11-28)28 November 1952 | ||
| Place of birth | Beni Suef, Egypt | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1964–1969 | Beni Suef SC | ||
| 1969–1971 | Zamalek | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1980 | Zamalek | 111 | (78) |
| International career | |||
| 1970–1980 | Egypt | 33 | (23) |
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ali Khalil (Arabic:على خليل; born 28 November 1952) is an Egyptian football coach and a former professionalfootballer who played as astriker. He was one of the most iconicEgyptian football players in the 1970s and one of its greatest strikers.[1] Khalil spent his entire football career withZamalek. Nicknamed "Dangerous Ali", he was theEgyptian Premier League'stop scorer for two times in the1976–77 and1978–79 seasons. He representedEgypt in threeAfrica Cup of Nations tournaments.
A prolific goal scorer, he played for his country a total of 33 international matches, scoring 23 goals. Despite his relatively short career, retiring at 28, Khalil still maintains his popularity despite his absence from his country over the past decades.[1] After retirement from professional football in 1980, he moved to theGulf Area and coached youth football teams. He is now a global expert in the field of training youth players.[2][3]
Ali Khalil was born on 28 November 1952 inBeni Suef, Egypt. He started playing football at his home town withBeni Suef SC youth teams. He played in the U-14 team and continued with the club until he was in the U-18 team.[4]
In 1969, Khalil was chosen to move toZamalek by Helmy Hussein, who was Zamalek's U-18 coach. Khalil was soon selected to play with the Zamalek U-20 team in the Youth League, which was a tournament that received great media coverage at the time for the cessation of football activity in Egypt due to theWar of Attrition. In the final match againstAl Ahly, which was broadcast ontelevision, Ali Khalil scored both goals for his team, and Zamalek won 2–1, and after that match, Khalil became a rising star inEgyptian football.[4][5]
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Khalil played for the first team in 1971, he won with Zamalek theOctober League Cup title in the 1973–74 season. He also won with his team the1977–78 Egyptian League title, and three titles of theEgypt Cup, the first title was in1975, and in the1977 Egypt Cup, he scored twice in the 3–1 win overIsmaily in thefinal, and scored a goal in the1979 Egypt Cup final where Zamalek wonGhazl El Mahlalla by a score of 3–0.[6] Khalil played eightleague seasons with Zamalek and scored 78 goals for his team. In his nine-seasons career, he scored a total of 94 goals for Zamalek in all competitions. Besides being a fierce goal scorer, Khalil was known for his extreme honesty and integrity, he had a famous incident in the1978–79 league season, where he scored a goal which passed through the outer torn net and landed in the goal against Ismaily. This goal was a deciding factor in the title, but despite this he told referee of the match, Ahmed Bilal, that the ball was not a goal. As a result, the goal was canceled after it had been awarded, amid major objections from the Ismaily players and fans.[7][8]
Khalil was Zamalek's valuablestriker of the 1970s and the beloved player of its fans. He scored decisive goals for Zamalek which earned him nickname of "Dangerous Ali".[9] He was theEgyptian Premier League top scorer in 1976-77 and 1978–79.[10][11] In 1980, at the height of his career, Khalil, who was 28 at the time, retired from football and became a youth coach.[12][13]
In 1970, Khalil played for theEgypt national team before playing in Zamalek's first team, as the national team was training inZamalek Stadium. Khalil was staying at the time in a room under the stands, along withMussad Nour. Khalil stood watching the training and the coach chose him to complete the division. After playing, he was officially called to the national team. Afterwards, he was called to be a part of the team that played in the1971 Mediterranean Games inIzmir, where Egypt finished fourth.[14]
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His first appearance with his country was in a game that took place inCairo Stadium on December 1st, 1972, againstKenya at the1973 African Games qualifiers, which Egypt won 1–0. He scored his first international goal on December 8th, 1972 againstTunisia inCairo at the1974 World Cup Qualifiers. He also played in the1972 Palestine Cup of Nations, and scored two goals in the group stage, and Egypt finished as champions.
He was a part of the team that participated in the1973 All-Africa Games in Nigeria and he scored againstGuinea andUpper Volta in the group stage. Egypt won thebronze medal. Khalil played in the1974 African Cup of Nation in Egypt, where he scored the winning goal againstUganda in the group stage, and also the second goal againstIvory Coast in the group stage. The Egyptians finished 3rd. He also was a part of the team that won the1975 Palestine Cup of Nations.[15] Khalil's final international match was on April 13th, 1980 in the1980 Summer Olympics Qualifiers againstZambia at theIndependence Stadium inLusaka, which finished in a 1–1 draw, and Khalil scored Egypt's goal. He played 33 caps for his country and scored 23 goals.[16]
| Egypt | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 0 | 0 |
| 1971 | 0 | 0 |
| 1972 | 3 | 1 |
| 1973 | 7 | 5 |
| 1974 | 7 | 9 |
| 1975 | 8 | 3 |
| 1976 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977 | 6 | 4 |
| 1978 | 0 | 0 |
| 1979 | 1 | 0 |
| 1980 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 33 | 23 |
Zamalek
Egypt
Individual
