Sarah Essam
{{Short description|Egyptian footballer (born 1999)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Sarah Essam
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| fullname = Sarah Essam Hassanin
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1999|4|6}}
| height =
| currentclub = Rugby Borough
| clubnumber = 64
| position = Midfielder, Winger, Forward
| youthyears1 = {{0|0000}}
| youthclubs1 = Wadi Degla
| years1 = {{0|0000}}–2018
| clubs1 = Wadi Degla
| caps1 =
| goals1 =
| years2 = 2018–2022
| clubs2 = Stoke City
| caps2 =
| goals2 =
| years3 = 2022–2023
| clubs3 = Fundación Albacete
| caps3 =
| goals3 =
| years4 = 2023–
| clubs4 = Rugby Borough
| caps4 = 28
| goals4 = 14
| nationalyears1 =
| nationalteam1 = Egypt U17
| nationalcaps1 =
| nationalgoals1 =
| nationalyears2 =
| nationalteam2 = Egypt
| nationalcaps2 =
| nationalgoals2 =
}}
Sarah Essam Hassanin ({{langx|ar|سارة عصام}}; born 6 April 1999) is an Egyptian footballer who plays as a midfielder, winger, or attacker for English club Rugby Borough in the National League South and the Egypt women's national team.
College career
Essam enrolled in the University of Derby where she studied civil engineering.{{Cite web |last=Hart |first=Simon |date=9 October 2022 |title=Meet Sarah Essam: If Mo Salah is the Egyptian King, she is the Egyptian Queen of football |url=https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/sarah-essam-egypt-womens-football-stoke-city-interview-705522 |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=iNews |publisher=}}{{Cite web |last=Khaled |first=Ali |date=15 September 2020 |title=Egyptian role model Sarah Essam raises the bar for Arab female footballers |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1734916/sport |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Arab News |publisher=}}{{Cite web |last=Hassan |first=Yasmine |date=27 October 2019 |title=Limitless Talents: Sarah Essam |url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/15/76103/Limitless-Talents-Sarah-Essam |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Egypt Today |publisher=}} She also played for her university team, alongside Stoke, and was awarded a football scholarship for her senior year.{{Cite web |title=SPORTS SCHOLARSHIP PUTS THE WORLD AT SARAH’S FEET |url=https://www.derbysciencepark.co.uk/life/sport/sports-scholarship-and-bursaries-scheme/sarah-essam-football-scholarship/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Derby Science Park}}
Club career
Essam played soccer with her siblings when she was a child and also played basketball. She joined the academy at Wadi Degla. She made her debut for the first team at age 15 and was the youngest player in the Egyptian Women's Premier League.{{Cite web |last=McBride |first=Luke |date=8 November 2018 |title=Sarah Essam speaks on women’s football in Egypt and her journey |url=https://www.kingfut.com/2018/11/08/sarah-essam-speaks-on-womens-football-in-egypt-and-her-journey/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=King Fut}}
After playing in Egypt, Essam became the first Egyptian woman to play competitive football in the UK when she signed with Stoke City in 2017.{{Cite web |date=16 April 2020 |title=Sarah Essam, Stoke City's Egyptian queen |url=https://www.fifa.com/news/sarah-essam-stokes-egyptian-queen-3070156 |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=FIFA}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=12 August 2020 |title=Sarah Essam, la Pharaonne du football égyptien |url=https://fr.cafonline.com/news-center/news/sarah-essam-la-pharaonne-du-football-egyptien |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311123032/https://fr.cafonline.com/news-center/news/sarah-essam-la-pharaonne-du-football-egyptien |archive-date=11 March 2021 |access-date=18 August 2023 |website=CAFOnline |language=fr}}{{Cite web|url=https://herfootballhub.com/egypts-sarah-essam-unique-role-as-female-arab-athlete/|title=Sarah Essam on Her Unique Role as a Female Arab Athlete|publisher=herfootballhub.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/52185801|title=Sarah Essam: fitness motivation lies in goals|publisher=bbc.com}} She also tried out at Sunderland, Derby County, and Birmingham. In 2018-19, she was the Stoke City Ladies' Development Team's top scorer, scoring 12 goals in 12 matches and receiving their Golden Boot award.{{Cite web |last=Maged |first=Mira |date=30 May 2019 |title=Egypt’s Sarah Essam makes history winning the Golden Boot |url=https://egyptindependent.com/egypts-sarah-essam-makes-history-winning-the-golden-boot/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Egypt Independent}}{{Cite web |last=Elkommos Youssef |first=Anthony |date=28 May 2019 |title=Egypt’s Sarah Essam wins Stoke City Ladies’ top scorer award |url=https://www.kingfut.com/2019/05/28/sarah-essam-stoke-city-ladies-top-scorer/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=King Fut}} During the COVID-19 pandemic, the English FA's Women's National League season results were expunged, and Essam returned to Egypt to train.
In 2022, she signed with Fundacion Albacete in the Primera Federacion, the second division of Spanish women's football.{{Cite web |last=Menayo |first=David |date=10 September 2022 |title=Sarah Essam, la faraona de La Mancha |url=https://www.marca.com/primera-plana/2022/10/09/633ac04de2704e95228b4582.html |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Marca |publisher= |language=es}}{{Cite web |last=Guzman |first=C |date=22 September 2022 |title=Sarah Essam: "Albacete es un buen camino para seguir" |url=https://www.latribunadealbacete.es/Noticia/ZEDB1D8E6-9FE3-33DE-5C4E241FA6FC8E69/202209/Sarah-Essam-Albacete-es-un-buen-camino-para-seguir |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=La Tribuna de Albacete |publisher= |language=es}}{{Cite web |last=Abulleil |first=Reem |date=7 October 2022 |title=Nouf Al Anzi and Sarah Essam blaze a trail for female Middle Eastern footballers in Spain |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2022/10/07/nouf-al-anzi-and-sarah-essam-blaze-a-trail-for-female-middle-eastern-footballers-in-spain/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=The National |publisher=}}
In 2023, she signed with Rugby Borough as part of the team's rebranding efforts.{{Cite web |last=Rahman |first=Anjuman |date=22 September 2023 |title=Meet Sarah Essam: An Egyptian woman and International Ambassador for Football alongside David Beckham |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230922-meet-sarah-essam-an-egyptian-woman-and-international-ambassador-for-football-alongside-david-beckham/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Middle East Monitor}}
International career
Essam played with the Egypt U-17 national team in 2016 World Cup qualifiers. At age 16, she was called up to the national team in 2016 to participate in 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, before being dropped for the tournament itself.
Essam featured in Egypt's third-place finish at the 2021 Arab Women's Cup, scoring one goal in Egypt's 2-5 semifinal defeat to Jordan.{{Cite web |last=Ismail |first=Ali |date=4 September 2021 |title=Egypt exit Women’s Arab Cup after heavy defeat against Jordan |url=https://www.kingfut.com/2021/09/04/egypt-exit-arab-women-cup/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=King Fut}}
She was called up for 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification in September 2023.{{Cite web |date=2 September 2023 |title=قائمة لاعبات منتخب مصر الرسمية المستدعاه لخوض مباراتان جنوب السودان |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=781689580628780&set=a.492219412909133 |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Facebook}} She scored in both legs of Egypt's 8-0 aggregate victory over South Sudan.{{Cite web |date=20 September 2023 |title=Egypt 4-0 South Sudan |url=https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2023/09/20/africa/africa-women-cup-of-nations-qualification/egypt/south-sudan-south-sudan/4125773/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Soccerway}}{{Cite web |date=24 September 2023 |title=South Sudan 0-4 Egypt |url=https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2023/09/24/africa/africa-women-cup-of-nations-qualification/south-sudan-south-sudan/egypt/4125795/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=Soccerway}}
Personal life
Essam's brother is a former goalkeeper for Al Mokawloon.
Essam has worked with fashion designer Deana Shaaban, helping to showcase Shaaban's womenswear collection. She counts Mo Salah as one of her role models.
In 2018, Essam was received the Arab Woman of the Year: Achievement in Sport award by the Arab Federation in London.
She served as part of the BBC's commentating team for the 2017 CAF Award ceremony, the 2019 Women's World Cup and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.{{Cite web |date=20 June 2019 |title=BBC increases coverage to 13 languages for Africa Cup of Nations |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/afcon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311123057/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/afcon |archive-date=11 March 2021 |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=BBC}}
Essam was an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup, working alongside David Beckham.
Essam also signed with Adidas, making her the first Egyptian footballer the sporting giant has signed.
International goals
| class="wikitable" | ||||||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 19 February 2023 | Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon | {{fbw|LBN}} | align=center|2–0 | align=center| 2–1 | Friendly |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.playmakerstats.com/jogador.php?id=920897 Sarah Essam] at playmakerstats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Essam, Sarah}}
Category:Egypt women's international footballers
Category:Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in England
Category:Egyptian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Category:Egyptian women's footballers
Category:21st-century Egyptian sportswomen
Category:Expatriate women's footballers in England
Category:Expatriate women's footballers in Spain
Category:Women's association football forwards
Category:Women's association football midfielders
Category:Women's association football wingers