World Cup oldest player Essam El-Hadary Retires from international football

The Egyptian legend has called retired his career with the Pharaohs where he was present for two decades

The 45-year-old was handed his debut in 1996 and played in 159 matches in a career 0f over 20 years

He won four African Cup of Nations [1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010]. Also, he was named the best goalkeeper in Africa four times.

Earlier this summer, El-Hadary made history at the 2018 World Cup in Russia as he became the oldest player to feature in the biggest party after he was a part of the Pharaohs’ last group game against Saudi Arabia.

El-Hadary expressed his intention by saying,

 "There is an end for every start, after a lot of thinking I took my decision to international retirement 22 years, 4 months and 12 days from my first match with Egypt and I saw that this is the right moment to hang my gloves after we made the Egyptian people happy by participating in the world cup.

“This is a moment I didn’t want to come, I trained hard day and night to reach high performances and to be with the Egyptian team, I am very proud to play 159 matches with Egypt, won the African Cup of Nations four times, reached the final in 2017, won the best goalkeeper in Africa four times, won the Arab games in 2007 and finally reach the World Cup.

“Finally, thank god for everything. I want to thank my family for helping me always especially my father and thank every one of you for your support that helped me a lot to reach all these achievements."