Mohamed Barakat Ahmed Bastamy ( ar, محمد بركات; born 7 September 1976) is a retired

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian footballer. A right-footed playmaker, Barakat usually played as an

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

right winger or

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for Egyptian club

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

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 A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

work ethic, which makes him an important figure both in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and attack. Thanks to his noticeable achievements and talent, his fans have given him the nickname The Mercurial ( ar, بركات الزئبقي), He reached his peak in 2005 and 2006, helping his club

to win the

CAF Champions League 2005 The 2005 CAF Champions League was the 41st edition of the CAF Champions League, the Africa's premier club football tournament prize organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was started on 29 January 2005 with a preliminary roun ...

and

CAF Champions League 2006 The 2006 CAF Champions League was the 42nd edition of the CAF Champions League, the Africa's premier club football tournament prize organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was started on 17 February 2006 with a preliminary ro ...

and Egypt win their fifth African Cup of Nations

Egypt 2006 The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt won ...

. However, in 2006 his career was marred by a long spell of injuries.

Club career

Early career

Barakat began his career at unheralded Sekka but really found his feet when he joined

Al-Ismaily Ismaily Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الإسماعيلي الرياضي) is an Egyptian professional football club, established on 20 March 1921 as El Nahda Sporting Club ( ar, جمعية نهضة الشباب المصري ) ( Egyptian pronunc ...

– just about the only club in Egypt with the ability to stand up to the 'big boys' of

and

Zamalek Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east ...

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 The Arab Club Champions Cup ( ar, كأس العرب للأندية الأبطال, french: Ligue des Champions Arabe) is an annual regional club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by elit ...

. 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

. Some have commented that the combination with

Mohamed Aboutrika Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed Aboutrika (Arabic language, Arabic: محمد محمد محمد أبوتريكة‎ (repeated three times); born 7 November 1978) is an Egyptian retired professional Association football, footballer who played as an Midfiel ...

and

Emad Moteab Emad Mohamed Abdelnaby Ibrahim Moteab ( ar, عماد محمد عبد النبي إبراهيم متعب; born 20 February 1983) is an Egyptian semi-retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Career statistics International :Sourc ...

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 Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

and

Obafemi Martins Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is known for his speed on the ball. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-d ...

of Nigeria. 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

. 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 Emad Mohamed Abdelnaby Ibrahim Moteab ( ar, عماد محمد عبد النبي إبراهيم متعب; born 20 February 1983) is an Egyptian semi-retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Career statistics International :Sourc ...

and

. However, he reversed his decision and returned to Al Ahly once again.

International career

Barakat made his debut for the Pharaohs in June 2000 against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He played 4 matches in 2002 African Cup of Nations and all Egypt's matches in

2006 Africa Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt w ...

. Barakat ended his international career on 18 November 2009 after his dream to reach the

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was crashed by

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that won 1–0, he told the press about that discussion on 11 August 2010.

International goals

:''Source:'' Said, Tare
"Barakat's international caps & goals"
Egyptian Football.net. Retrieved on 2 May 2010

Honours and achievements

Club

;Ismaily *

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League ( ar, الدوري المصري الممتاز), also known as WE Egyptian Premier League (WE EPL) after the addition of title sponsor WE, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the top level of th ...

: 2001–02 *

Egypt Cup The Egypt Cup (also known as Egyptian FA Cup, formerly King Farouk Cup) is the main knockout football cup competition in Egypt. List of finals The following table provides a summary of seasons: Notes: * The Winner and Runner-up of 1960–61 Eg ...

: 2000 ;Al Ahli Saudi * Arab Unified Club Championship:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

;Al Ahly *

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 *

: 2006, 2007 *

Egyptian Super Cup The Egyptian Super Cup is Egyptian football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Egyptian Premier League season and the holders of the Egypt Cup. If the Egyptian Premier League champions also won the Egypt Cup then the ...

: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* CAF Super Cup:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

International

;Egypt * African Cup of Nations:

Individual

Awards

* BBC African Footballer of the Year: 2005 * African Inter-Club Player of the Year: 2005 *

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten pla ...

: 2005

Performances

* CAF Champions League top goalscorer:

(Shared with

Joetex Frimpong Kwabena Joseph "Joetex" Asamoah Frimpong (born 17 April 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Club career Frimpong was born in Mampong. He began his ca ...

)

References

External links

Egyptian Barakat wins BBC award

Egypt's outstanding Pharaoh

Barakat named the best player in Africa's continental club competition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barakat, Mohamed Egyptian footballers Egyptian expatriate footballers Egypt international footballers 1976 births Al Ahly SC players Association football midfielders Ismaily SC players Living people 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Expatriate footballers in Qatar Sportspeople from Cairo Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Saudi Professional League players Qatar Stars League players Egyptian Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar