Mahmoud Al-Khatib (born October 30, 1954) is a former Egyptian football player, who played for Al-Ahly club and the Egyptian national football team, and is the current president of Al-Ahly Club of Egypt.
Al-Khatib was born in an Egyptian village affiliated to the Sinbillawain Center in Dakahlia Governorate. From the village, the little boy moved with his family to Cairo. Mahmoud Al-Khatib joined Al-Nasr Club in Heliopolis, and when he reached the age of fifteen, his name became frequent in the field of football, especially during his participation in the school league with the Sports School. Al-Nasr club officials agreed to transfer Al-Khatib to Al-Ahly Club, after he was close to signing for Al-Ismaili, and Al-Khatib was only 16 years old at the time.
At this age, Al-Khatib played with the under-18 team, and his first match was against his former club, Al-Nassr. He went up to the first team to play his first official match against the Plastic Club on October 15, 1972, and in the same match he scored his first goals, and then the goals rolled in the league until he reached on the day of his retirement to 108 goals in the league championship, he scored in 199 games during 17 continuous years of play .
In his sixteen years with the Red Devils, Al-Khatib won ten league titles and 5 Egyptian cups. He also made history in continental competitions as he scored 37 goals in 49 matches, a record that has yet to be surpassed. Al-Khatib raised with Al-Ahly the African Cup of Champions Clubs (predecessor of the African Champions League) in 1982 and 1987, and the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1986. On the international scene, Al-Khatib made his national team debut in 1974 and participated with the Pharaohs in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. He won the African Nations Cup in 1986. Al-Khatib won individual titles, most notably the best African player in 1983 from France Football magazine, in addition to the title of top scorer in the Egyptian league seasons 1977-78 and 1980-81.
Mahmoud Al-Khatib was born on October 30, 1954 in the village of Qarqira in Dakahlia Governorate, and he was the tenth child in the family. His father worked in the Ministry of Endowments, so the family moved to the city of Cairo, specifically in the Ain Shams neighborhood. Al-Khatib studied at Mahmoud Khater Primary School, and then Helmeyet al-Zaytoun Preparatory School. He says about that: "In the Helmiya neighborhood, the streets were very narrow and the houses were side by side, and we were like children who wanted to play football." Al-Khatib started playing football in his early childhood. His parents did not prevent him from playing football, especially his father, who taught him his love for it. His idol at the time was Pele. As a child he often saved his money to go to the cinema, where the cinema showed some of Pele's goals and skills between each film and the next, he admired the skills of the Brazilian star on the big screen. As a result, an association arose between Bebo and the number 10, which he would later wear throughout his career.
It is said that the president of the Aviation Club requested the inclusion of Al-Khatib, but the matter did not happen. The real starting point of the football career was in Al-Khatib's life with Al-Nassr U-17 team. Al-Ahly team officials noticed him during a match between the two clubs, which ended in a 2-2 draw, with Al-Khatib scoring a double. The officials of the Cairo club expressed their interest in this promising talent, according to their opinion. In the next match between the two teams, Bebo scored another double. Al-Nasr won 2-5, Al-Ahly coach reiterated his readiness to obtain Al-Khatib's services. Al-Khatib was going to move to the Ismaili Club at first (which was based in Cairo due to the circumstances of the setback at the time), and he had already participated in the second half in one of the junior team matches, and Ismaili officials asked to include him after they admired his performance, but he preferred to sign for Al-Ahly after Fathi Nasir managed to settle the deal. . The contract was signed in 1971, at the age of sixteen.
With his new team, Khatib had to face his old comrades. Al-Ahly won 4-0 thanks to the good work of their new player (Al-Khatib), who scored all four goals. In the last match of the season, Al-Ahly faced Zamalek, and despite Saleh Selim’s desire to escalate Al-Khatib and Mustafa Younes to the first team, Fathi Nassir (the coach of the youth team at the time) succeeded in persuading him to leave them to face Zamalek first, and the match ended 7-1 for Al-Ahly, and he scored Khatib 4 goals in that match. At the end of the season, Al-Khatib was announced as the top scorer in the U-17 Championship. His performance was not hidden from the coach of the first team, who included him in the ranks of the first team in the 1972/73 season.
glory days
Al-Khatib appeared with Al-Ahly for the first time the day after the second exercise, and by the 1974/75 season he had already proven himself and became the team's main striker after scoring 22 goals. In the same season, the Cairo club was crowned champion of Egypt, an achievement that was also repeated a year later. Once again, Bebo was the top scorer in the squad, scoring 14 goals, including two against Zamalek. The classic match between the two giants and the eternal rivals in the capital, which usually decides the winner of the league, went to Al-Ahly's hands with a score of 5-0 (total and back). In 1976/1977, Al-Ahly continued to dominate the national championship, and Mahmoud Al-Khatib returned to lead the scorer with ten goals.
In his sixteen years with the Red Devils, Al-Khatib won ten league titles and 5 Egyptian cups. He also made history in continental competitions as he scored 37 goals in 49 matches, a record that has yet to be surpassed, more than 30 years after Bebo's retirement. Al-Ahly lifted the African Cup of Champions Clubs (the predecessor of the African Champions League) in 1982 and 1987, and the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1986.
On the international scene, Al-Khatib made his national team debut in 1974 and participated with the Pharaohs in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. In the Los Angeles version, he scored a wonderful goal in Egypt's 4-1 victory over Costa Rica, which gave Egypt the pass to the second round for the first time since Tokyo in 1964.
According to him, Al-Khatib's biggest dream has always been to win the African Nations Cup in his homeland. In 1986, Egypt organized the continental competition, giving the Al-Ahly star the opportunity to fulfill his ultimate wish. Al-Khatib led his team to win the championship. After winning the African crown, Al-Khatib decided to end his international career. Thus, the 1986 African Cup of Nations final between Egypt and Cameroon, which the host nation won 5-4 in penalty shootouts (regular and extra time 0-0), was the last time that Al-Khatib wore the national team shirt.
Two years after his international retirement, Al-Khatib put an end to his football career. Throughout his sporting career, Al-Khatib has been committed to sporting ethics, as in total, he has only received a yellow card twice.
On December 1, 2017, he was elected president of Al-Ahly Club
The greatest achievement of Captain Mahmoud Al-Khatib or Bebo, as the fans prefer to call him, is his obtaining the Golden Ball for the best football player in Africa (1983 AD) in the annual referendum organized by France Football magazine specialized in football affairs. Al-Khatib was chosen as a member of the International Committee for Fair Play after playing 450 local and international matches without receiving a single penalty.
And in 2007, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) chose Mahmoud Al-Khatib for second place in the list of the 30 best players in the history of football in Africa.
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