Shikabala


Mahmoud Fadlalla Shikabala, Egyptian soccer player, born 5 March 1986 in Aswan, Egypt. Shikabala currently wearing the colors of PAOK Thessaloniki, a major Greek football club. Shikabala plays a free role, usually an attacking midfielder and wears a number 10 on his back, a testament to his elaborate and creative open play.

Shikabala's height is 1.81 metres and his weight is 73 kilograms.


Shikabala, seen here training at PAOK. He's the one on the left.


Shikabala's PAOK years, 2005 - present


Shikabala was immediately picked up by PAOK scouts while he was playing for Al-Zamalek, based in Cairo, Egypt and the team did everything they could to bring the Egyptian Shikabalato the northern Greek city. Shikabala quickly established himslef with the club and soon earned the appreciation and love of the PAOK fans with his extraordinary feats in the soccer field.


His magnificent performance in a Greek Alpha Ethniki (A Division) league match on 16th October , 2005 against PAOK's rival club, Olympiakos Piraeus, lead to Olympiakos' first defeat in their home stadium (1-2) to PAOK in over 30 years, spreading shock and joy among the ranks of PAOK's fans.
Shikabala came on as a substitution in the second half of the match and after exhibiting his astonishing dribbling skills he created two "surgerically" precise assist passes to Pantelis "Pantelas" Konstandinidis who had no difficulty "depositing" the ball twice in Olympiakos' goal.

Origins of Shikabala's name and Greek nicknames


Shikabala's most distinct characteristic is the ease and fluidity of his play, his accurate passing and especially the magically intriguing way in which he controls the ball around the field. This talent of his earned him the nickname "Shikabala, the Ball Wizard" or simply "The Wizard" among his Greek fans.
It also leaded to a quasi-greek translation of his name as chic+ball, "Shikabala-who-plays-chic-football", from the French "chic" (elegant, prestigious) pronounced "Shik" and the Greek "μπάλα" (ball) pronounced "bala".

This season Shikabala has played 25 games in which he's scored 4 goals and made 6 assists. One of his teammates at the Greek club is a fellow Egyptian, the defender Amir Azmi Megahed.