Early in life, Ibrahim El-Masry knew that he wanted to play football for his local Al-Masry Club of Port Said. Turning down offers from more famous Egyptian clubs such as Zamalek and Al-Ahly, he débuted at the senior level for Al-Masry in 1988 and, over the course of 15 seasons, made 450 appearances for the club and won the Egypt Cup with them in 1992. He joined the Egyptian national team in 1992 and earned several caps, including three at that year’s Summer Olympics. There, Egypt was eliminated in the Group Stage, winning 4-3 against Colombia (where El-Masry scored one of the goals), but being shut out by both Qatar and upcoming gold medalist Spain. He was also a member of Egypt’s 1994 and 1996 African Cup squads, where his nation was eliminated in the quarterfinals on both occasions. For his final year of football, he joined Oman’s Al-Nasr SC and, with them, won the 2003-2004 Omani league title. He retired at the end of the season and eventually opened up a soccer school in Egypt. His nickname is “the Maradona of Port Said”.
Egypt