Ahmed Hossam 'Mido'


Personal Information

Full name: Hossam Hussein Abdelamid Ahmed
Arabic: أحمد حسام

Nickname: "Mido"
Date of Birth: February 23, 1983

Place of Birth: Cairo, Egypt
Height: 1.90 m / 6'3"


Club Information

Current club: Tottenham Hotspur
On Loan from: AS Roma

Number: 15
Position: Striker


Professional Club History

Egyptian National Team
Since 2001: Egypt 43 matches/17 goals


Ahmed Hossam (Arabic, أحمد حسام (born February 23, 1983 in Cairo) nicknamed Mido, is an Egyptian footballer who is a striker currently on-loan at Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in the English Premiership.


Mido is well known for his volatile temperament as well as his footballing prowess. He was reported to be the highest ever paid Egyptian professional and in 2002 Mido was named African Youth Player of the Year.

He made his first full international appearance against the UAE scoring Egypt's first goal in a 2-1 victory. Recently he established the "Mido Football Academy" which is recognised as a step in revolutionizing Egyptian football.

At Ajax, he averaged a goal every other game, but clashed with coach Ronald Koeman and reportedly threw a pair of scissors at fellow Ajax striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic after an argument. He has earned 43 caps for Egypt so far, but lost his place in the national team after a bitter falling-out in 2004 with then-coach Italian Marco Tardelli. He claimed to be unavailable for the national team due to an injury but played in a friendly match with Roma 24 hours later. Tardelli immediately dropped him from the team and the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced that he would not play again for the team.




In January 2005, Mido was signed by Spurs on an 18-month loan deal with Roma, expressing many regrets for his volatile past. He scored two goals in his Spurs debut. Despite this, he found acclimatisation to the rigours of English football difficult. By this time Egypt coach Tardelli had been sacked as Egypt coach and the EFA signaled that they would consider a return of Mido if he was willing to apologise for his past behaviour. In February, while his new teammates were playing in an FA Cup tie for which he was ineligible, Mido flew to Cairo and made a public apology. The following month, he was recalled to the national team.


At the start of the 2005-06 season, Mido looked in far fitter form and scored in pre-season friendlies as well as the second league game of the new term. He has continued to impress and is currently the second top scorer behind Robbie Keane as the club pushes for a Champions League spot.

Mido has scored 11 goals so far this season, along with 8 assists, and is the "target man" of the Spurs attack. He has also established a great following at the club where the fans chant "Mido, Yiddo"; Yiddo being a nickname given to Spurs fans due to their large Jewish following. His relationship with manager Martin Jol appears to be excellent; every game the two can be seen hugging and sharing jokes. His loan to the Spurs is due to end in the summer of 2006. However, he had expressed that he does not wish to return to Roma, but wishes to sign permanently with Tottenham instead. On February 18, 2006, Tottenham Hotspur manager, Martin Jol declared that the club were confident of signing Mido on a permanent basis due to his good performances and his love for the club. In recent days there is some speculation he may move elsewhere in order to get Jol to put pen to paper and get more cash for Roma. Clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid have a reported interest.


On February 8, 2006, it was announced that Mido had been thrown out of the Egypt national team as a consequence of an argument with coach Hassan Shehata during the African Cup of Nations in which he called his manager Shehata a donkey. The argument had started after Mido reacted badly to being substituted in the semi-final game against Senegal. The Egyptian Football Association subsequently ruled Mido out of the international team for six months. Mido later apologised to the coach and his teammates who went on to win the cup by beating Cote d'Ivoire 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out in the final in Cairo.


Honours