A prolific goal scorer, he played for his country a total of 33 international matches, scoring 23 goals. The beloved Zamalek star was known for his honesty and integrity. Despite his relatively short career, retiring at 28, Khalil still maintains his popularity despite his absence from his country over the past decades.[2] After retirement from professional football in 1980, he moved to the Gulf Area and coached youth football teams, forming a large youth base. He is now a global expert in the field of preparing youngsters.[3][4]
Early life
Ali Khalil was born on 28 November 1952 in Beni Suef, Egypt. He started playing football at his home town with Beni Suef SC youth teams, he played in the U-14 team, and continued with the club until he was in the U-18 team.[5]
Career
Club career
In 1969, he was chosen to move to Zamalek 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 the War of Attrition. In the final match against Al Ahly, which was broadcast on television, Ali Khalil scored both goals for his team, and Zamalek won 2-1, and after that match, Khalil became a rising star in Egyptian football.[5][6]
Khalil with Zamalek in 1976
Khalil played for the first team in 1971, he won with Zamalek the October League Cup title in the 1973–74 season. He also won with his team the 1977–78 Egyptian League title, and three titles of the Egypt Cup, the first title was in 1975, and in the 1977 Egypt Cup, he scored twice in the 3–1 win over Ismaily in the final, and scored a goal in the 1979 Egypt Cup final where Zamalek won Ghazl El Mahlalla by a score of 3–0.[7] Khalil played eight league 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 the 1978–79 league season, where he scored a goal which passed through the outer torn net and landed in the goal against Ismaily. Unfortunately, this goal was important in the chase for the title, however he encountered the referee Ahmed Bilal, the referee of the match, and Khalil said to the referee that the ball was not a goal, and the goal was canceled after it had been awarded amid major objections from the Ismaily players and fans.[8][9]
Khalil (front row, first from left) with Zamalek in 1978
Khalil was Zamalek's valuable striker of the 1970s and the beloved player of its fans, he was capable of scoring strange goals. He scored decisive goals for Zamalek which earned him nickname of "Dangerous Ali".[10] He was the Egyptian Premier League top scorer in 1976-77 and 1978–79.[11][12] In 1980, and at the height of his career, Khalil, 28 at the time, retired from football at a relatively young age and became a coach for youth teams.[13][14]
International career
In 1970, Khalil played for the Egypt national football team before playing in Zamalek's first team, as the national team was training in Zamalek Stadium, and Khalil was staying at the time in a room under the stands, along with Mussad 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 the 1971 Mediterranean Games in Izmir, where Egypt finished fourth.[15]
Khalil (front row, first from right) with Egypt in the 1974 African Cup of Nations in Egypt
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