Egyptian grandfather Bahader scores on professional debut

A 74-year-old man became the oldest footballer in the world to net a goal in an official tie for an Egyptian third tier side.

On Saturday, Ezzeldin Bahader scored on his debut and is seeking recognition as the world’s oldest professional footballer, and he can meet the Guinness World Records criteria of playing two official full-length matches when his club take to the field on Match 21 in their next Group Five fixture, an ESPNFC report said on Tuesday.

Israeli goalkeeper Isaak Hayik, who represented FC Ironi Or Yehuda in April 2019 at 73, currently holds the record. Bahader was born on Nov.3, 1945.

The attacking midfielder scored a penalty for his team as he skippered his new club to a 1-1 draw.

“I became the oldest professional footballer scoring a goal in an official game,” the veteran told BBC Sport following his debut.

“This is something that was achieved in the last minute of the game that I thought I wouldn’t achieve.

“I was injured and all what I hoped for was to continue for the full 90 minutes and play the next game.”

The forward, who has recently been battling a knee injury, used to play amateur football while he conducted his career as a civil engineering consultant and then a land cultivation expert.

In January, the Egyptian FA announced the registration of a septuagenarian player who had never previously appeared in professional football.

Having first started playing football in the streets of the Egyptian capital Cairo as a six-year-old, it was only seven decades later that he started to write to teams in the unlikely dream of joining a club.

Cairo-based October 6 were the club that took him, with an eye on getting their place in the record books.

“It is very good for Egypt to have someone in the Guinness Book of Records and for us to have him in the October 6 club,” said club coach Ahmed Abdel Ghany.

“Honestly, we won’t benefit from him 100 per cent on the technical side but we rehabilitated him in the previous period so that he would be able to play the required 90 or 180 minutes (to qualify for the Guinness World Records book).”

Bahader has recently been training both with the club and at home with a personal trainer in a bid to make his mark.

Agencies