Raafat Attia

Raafat Attia began his senior football career with Ittihad Alexandria in 1952 and remained with them through 1957. He then moved to Zamalek, where he spent the remainder of his competitive days, through 1967. During that time, he won the Egyptian Premier League thrice (1960, 1964, and 1965) and the Egypt Cup four times (1958, 1959, 1960, and 1962). He also represented Egypt (known politically as the United Arab Republic from 1958 through 1971, following its brief 1958-1961 union with Syria) internationally at two editions of the Olympic football tournament. In 1960 his team was eliminated in the preliminary round, but in 1964 it survived to the bronze medal match, where it was defeated by Germany. He had better luck at the Africa Cup of Nations, where he scored the first ever goal in the tournament’s history and helped his nation take home the title. Although he missed the 1959 edition, he returned in 1962, when Egypt was runner-up. He was also a gold medalist at the 1955 Mediterranean Games. He died relatively young, in a car accident, in 1978.