Sherif Ashraf Hamid Oqila ( ar, شريف أشرف حامد عقيلة ; born on 1 January 1987) is an Egyptian international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker. He is known as a prolific goalscorer and is renowned for his mastery of set pieces.

Club career

Al-Ahly youth academy

He is a graduate of the Al-Ahly youth academy. He was the top scorer in the history of the Egyptian youth league for seven seasons after scoring over 280 goals. He was close to transfer to Belgian giants

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

together with his teammate

Mohamed El Shenawy Mohamed El Sayed Mohamed El Shenawy Gomaa ( ar, محمد السيد محمد الشناوي جمعة; born 22 December 1988) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays for Al Ahly and the Egyptian national football team as a goalkeepe ...

, however El-Ahly management interfered with the transfer. He became known as a machine scorer when he scored 70 goals in the season 2006–2007, and was transferred to his club's arch rivals

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 an ...

as a free agent after not signing a professional contract with Al-Ahly. Al-Ahly later claimed that Ashraf had signed a contract but the paperwork turned out to be forged. As a result, the

Egyptian Football Association The Egyptian Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction for the Egyptian football lea ...

placed a 50,000 Egyptian Pounds fine on Al-Ahly.

Zamalek SC

Ashraf was the top scorer in his team in the season 2008–2009 with 6 goals. In the

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 ...

he wore number 32 but in 2009-2010 he shifted his shirt number to 4.

El Gouna FC

In 2010, he signed for

El Gouna FC El Gouna Football Club ( ar, نادي الجونة لكرة القدم), is an Egyptian association football club based in El Gouna, Hurghada, Egypt. The club currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian foot ...

for a transfer fee worth 125,000 Euros, despite his expiring contract with Zamalek. He finished his first season as the team's top-scorer followed by

Ahmed Hassan Farag Ahmed Hassan Farag ( ar, أحمد حسن فرج; born 9 June 1982) is an Egyptian footballer, who plays in the position of a striker, and currently plays for El Gouna El Gouna ( ar, الجونة ' , "the Lagoon") is an Egyptian tourist city, ...

HJK Helsinki

In order to regain match fitness because the league was postponed in

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 ...

, he signed for

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

in March 2012, also citing as a reason his desire to attempt a breakthrough in European football. On April 26, 2012, Ashraf made his debut for HJK Helsinki against Jaro in a Quarter final

Suomen Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...

game. On May 9, 2012, Ashraf scored his debut goal with the club with a header from a corner kick to make the score 1-0 for his club against

FC KooTeePee FC KooTeePee was a Finnish football club. History Originally FC KooTeePee was founded as a reserve team of Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat (founded 1927). In the year 2000, it became an independent club. At that time Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat ...

in the semi-final of the

FF Jaro

On September 4, 2012, Ashraf was loaned out to

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

side

FF Jaro FF Jaro is a Finnish football club, based in the bilingual town of Jakobstad. It currently plays in ''Ykkönen''. Home matches are played at the Jakobstads Centralplan. Current squad ''Updated 7 March, 2022.'' Managem ...

for the remainder of the season. He scored 3 important goals in the final 3 games of the season and assisted 4 times. He scored his debut goal against JJK. His second and third goals for the club were both historic. He scored the fastest goal in the league's history (11 seconds) in a 3–3 draw with

Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Åland, Government and Parliament of Åland, ...

, and the third was the winning goal against TPS, the goal which kept Jaro in the

for another season. Sherif was selected in the

October team of the month.

Haras El-Hodood

On February 26, 2013, despite an offer from

, he joined Haras El-Hodood until the end of the 2012–2013 season.

FC Biel-Bienne

On July 18, 2013, Sherif Ashraf made a quick comeback to European football joining

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

side

FC Biel-Bienne Fussballclub Biel-Bienne is a Swiss association football club based in Biel/Bienne. The currently play in the 2. Liga Interregional. Honours Swiss championship *Champions: 1946–47 *Runners-up: 1947–48, 1959–60 Swiss Cup *Runners ...

. He took the league by storm, scoring 4 goals in his first 117 minutes on the pitch.

El-Gouna

In early 2014, Ashraf made a surprise move back to Egypt, signing a short-term deal at

. He scored his first goal after less than 15 minutes on the field. In summer 2014, he renewed his contract at the club.

El-Mokawloon and El-Entag El-Harby

Despite strong performances from Ashraf, El-Gouna's relegation meant that he had to leave the club. He chose

El Mokawloon SC Al Mokawloon Al Arab Sporting Club ( ar, نادي المقاولون العرب الرياضي), shortly known as El Mokawloon (The contractors) locally, is an Egyptian sports club based in Nasr City, Cairo, and owned by the prominent construction ...

in August 2015. After managerial changes, he moved on loan to

El-Entag El-Harby SC El Entag El Harby Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الإنتاج الحربي الرياضي), sometimes referred to as Military Production, is an Egyptian sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its football team, which curr ...

in January 2016, making his debut against El Mokawloon.

International career

International Call-Ups

Ashraf's performances caught the attention of the Egyptian National Team, who gave him his first senior national call-up in the friendly match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

''Correct as of 14 January 2013''

Honors

with Zamalek

Egyptian 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 ...

(2008)

with HJK Helsinki

* Finnish Premier League (2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashraf, Sherif 1987 births Living people Egyptian footballers Egypt international footballers Zamalek SC players El Gouna FC players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Veikkausliiga players Egyptian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Finland Sportspeople from Alexandria Egyptian Premier League players Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Jeddah Club players Saudi First Division League players Haras El Hodoud SC players Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC players El Entag El Harby SC players FC Biel-Bienne players Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Association football forwards