Essam Baheeg (Arabic: عصام بهيج; 26 February 1931 – 4 December 2008) was an Egyptian football manager and former footballer who played as a winger for Zamalek. He also played for the Egyptian national team, and represented his country and was part of the team that won the 1959 Africa Cup of Nations, and scored the two winning goals for his country in the final.
As a player, he was an iconic player in Egypt and one of the best of his generation. As a manager, Baheeg coached Zamalek for only one season in his career, succeeding to win the Egyptian Premier League, Egypt Cup, Afro-Asian Club Championship and the Friendship International Cup.
Early life
Baheeg was born on 26 February 1931 in Alexandria, Egypt to a middle class family. He started playing football in the streets of the city. Afterwards, he played for Mansoura youth teams. He then moved to Cairo to enlist to Egyptian Military Academy in mid-1940s.[1]
Playing career
Club career
Essam Baheeg's talent was discovered by Zamalek's president Mohammed Haidar Pasha who chose Baheeg for the club's youth team when he was 18 years old.
In 1949, Baheeg played for Zamalek's first team, and quickly became a key player for Zamalek, thanks to his talent and skills, he reached fame at a young age. Baheeg was known for his loyalty and sincerity to Zamalek, this increased his popularity among the clubs' fans and the Egyptian football fans in general. He played for eleven seasons for Zamalek which he played for in his entire professional career.[2][3] Despite his short career as a professional player, due to his early retirement, Baheeg won with his team six titles of the Egypt Cup (1951–52, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60).
He also won with Zamalek the Cairo League for three consecutive seasons in (1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53). In his last season, Baheeg won with Zamalek the Egyptian Premier League title in (1959–60), he was one of the most valuable players in this season.[4] He did not play for any other club throughout his 12-year football career, he's considered an icon and symbol for the club throughout its history. Baheeg retired from football in 1960.[5]
International career
With his country, he played with Egypt for eleven years, from 1949 till his retirement. He was called for the Summer Olympic Games and was a part of Egypt's squad that participated in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, but did not play in any matches.[6]
Baheeg with Egypt in the 1952 Summer Olympics
He played for his country in the 1959 African Cup of Nations, and participated in the two matches against the Ethiopia and Sudan. He scored his country's two winning goals in the final against Sudan and led his country to win their second title. Baheeg also scored a famous goal in France from forty yards in the football finals of the 1955 Mediterranean Games in Barcelona, in which Egypt won the gold medal.[7]
Baheeg was known for his numerous relationships with women during his football career, he was a rich topic for tabloids in the 1950s.[9] He presented his personal experience in the film Talk of the City (1964) alongside Shwikar.[10] He starred in the film alongside his colleague Hanafy Bastan and Ali Mohsen who appeared in the film, but Bastan and Baheeg acted in the film after their retirement from football.[9][11]
Baheeg with his wife Nahed Gabr
While filming Talk of the City in 1964, Baheeg met actress Nahed Gabr, and quickly they fell in love with each other and got married in Cairo and had a son and a daughter, but they separated and divorced later, however, they remarried again in the 1980s and remained married until his death.[12]
Baheeg was an influential star in Egypt, as he was one of the most prominent players in the national team. He was connected in the Egyptian movie business and had close relationships in the Egyptian intellectual community at that time. He had several film stars and singers as friends such as Sabah.[13]
Baheeg died on 4 December 2008 at the age of 77, in Cairo, Egypt.
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