Saleh Selim: The Egyptian Maestro (By Hassanin Mubarak ( Iraq Football )

"Bravo, Saleh Selim, Bravo," came the cry of an Austrian commentator having just seen GAKs new forward thump another spectacular drive from outside the penalty area into the roof of the net. The player had arrived all the way from Cairo, where he was considered not just a football player; in Egypt people held him in high esteem, they use to say Abdel-Halim Hafez and Umm Kulthoum for Arabic music, President Gamal Abdel-Nasser for politics and Saleh Selim for football. He was, like the other three great names mentioned a superstar in Egypt. With over 55 million people, Egypt has the biggest population in the Arab world and the largest pool of players for the Egyptian national coach to choose from in the region, making their national side one of the best in the Arabia and Africa. From all the players in Masr, the best at the height of the Pan-Arab nationalist movement in the 60s, was Saleh Selim, captain of the Al-Ahly Club in Cairo. In early 1963, Saleh left the dai! ly routine of being mobbed by his loyal fans on the streets of Egypts capital to make his name in Europe, with Austria his destination. Though nearing his 32nd birthday, Selim was at the peak of his fitness, and still able to cause defenders problems, with his movement on and off the ball and quick thinking. Months earlier, a letter had arrived for Selim from Austria. It was from his old coach Fritz Pimperl, who had known the player having spent 7 years at the Al-Ahly club, guiding the club to 6 league titles. He had written a lengthy letter telling Selim that he was now a coach at a top division team in Austria, who were going through one or two problems. However, he thought the skills of Saleh Selim and his own tactical ideas could help the team to climp the Staatsliga A league table. He added, that he had been given the chance by the club to sign any foreign player he wanted in his side, and the only player that came into his mind was his old match-winner at his for! mer club Al-Ahly. With the letter he sent a contract, which he told him to sign if he wanted to accept his offer, with the contract came a statement from the clubs president Dr. Konrad Reinthaler which said "You will only get what any other player at the club gets", which at the time was 5,000 Austrian Schillings (100 Egyptian pounds). He agreed and put his signature to the contract that would mean he would play professionally for Grazer Athletik-Sport-Klub (G.A.K.).

Before Selim had signed for the Austrian club, Egypt had only had four other players who had played in Europe. The first was a 20-year-old forward by the name of Hussein Hegazi, who came to England in 1911 to study at Cambridge University, where he played for the varsity team. Hegazi went on to play for amateur side Dulwich Hamlet and turned out a few times for Football League sides Fulham and Millwall. He returned back home in 1914, where he joined Sekka Club the oldest club in Egypt. A year later he joined Al-Ahly, where he played for 8 years. In 1923, he moved across to play for Cairo rivals Zamalak for 5 years before returning to Al-Ahly for a season and then reverting back to Zamalak playing his last ever game in 1931. Hegazi also played for the Egyptian national team in their three Olympic final appearances in 1920, 1924 and 1928. His international team-mate Tawfik Abdellah also played in England; the player nicknamed Toothpick by English fans was a member of Egypt! s 1920 Olympic team in Belgium. The midfielder played in bare feet for Cairo Sporting Club and the Egyptian military team. However, he managed to make the transition to football boots, signing for Derby County in 1920 and later Hartlepool United. After the 1934 World Cup, two of the stars of Egypts team, goalkeeper Mostafa Kamel Mansour and attacker Mohammed Latif returned with their Scottish coach James McRea to his home city of Glasgow. Latif of Mokhtalat joined Glasgow Rangers in 1935-36, playing one league match against Hiberian and a benefit game against Falkirk. Mansour joined amateur club Queens Park from 1936 to 1939, whiling studying at a local college and at one point was offered #5,000 by giants Celtic to turn professional but he decided against it and later rejoined Al-Ahly.

The coach of GAK, Pimperl had taken over from Juan Schwanner in the spring of 1963 and felt that the team needed an inspirational leader and knew Saleh Selim was the best there was, having spent everyday for the past seven years working with him on the training ground at Al-Ahly. He knew GAK lacked that special someone, a player who could turn things around when it was least expected. Having a player like Saleh Selim in the team, the coach knew it was usually the difference between a win or a loss. Pimperl had always admired him, even after he had left Al-Ahly for rival Egyptian club Tanta. While he was at Al-Ahly, he once told Selim, he had the abilities to play at the top level in Europe and had friends in Austria that could find him a club in Europe but at the time Saleh had never thought about leaving his country and club, and did not take up the offer, until that was when he recieved Pimperls letter in 1963. He sent for Al-Ahlys captain and in a matter of months, h! e was in Austria but Selim did not arrive in Europe, without gaining advise from a close friend. After recieving the offer, Selim went to his mentor, the former great Al-Ahly player and coach Mahmoud Mukhtar Al-Titch for advice on whether or not he should move abroad to play professionally in Austria. When Selim told Mukhtar about his offer from his former coach, he quickly encouraged Selim to take the opportunity to play in Europe, which he said would benefit him both as a playing and football education. Mukhtar had sent many players abroad to learn and study the game earning sports certificates from the places all around the world and had hoped to send Selim abroad, but this opportunity was too good to turn down. With Al-Titchs words Selim went to the club board to tell them he wanted to leave and get his release to Austria. The board reluctedly agreed as it meant losing their best player while his fellow team-mates and fans sad to see him leave all wished him luck in his new adventure.

He arrived at Vienna Airport, where he was greeted by the clubs representives and later taken to Graz by train. As the train stopped at the Graz Hauptbahnhof (Graz Central Train Station), he found a crowd of people holding up banners in both Arabic and German bearing his name and welcoming him to Graz. At the station were a number of Arab students who were studying in the city and they had all come to welcome him to Graz. Selim astongished by the warm reception he had been given, would later find out that a party thrown in honour of his arrival. In his first meeting with the club president, he told Selim he wanted him to play for GAK after only three days of his arrival. With little training with his new team-mates, Selims first game came in a warm-up match on the April 3, 1963 against Frohnleiten SC. Over a thousand fans, a big crowd for only a training match stood through the pouring rain to watch the debut appearance of the first Egyptian footballer in Austria! , who had been attentively pursued by the Austrian press since his arrival in the country and was later given the nickname Dgyptische Pharao, the Egyptian Pharaoh. Selim did not disappoint in his first game in front of the Grazer faithful setting up six goals and scoring a hat-trick in the first half in a game GAK won 14:1. The fans and journalists went away from the stadium all in awe of the new Egyptian recruit; Selim had made a big impact after only a short period of time. Four days later, the club would restart their Fr|hjahrsmeisterschaft (Spring Championship) campaign and the GAK coach Pimperl surprisingly placed the new boy at the deep end giving him his league debut after he had declared his arrival with a superb display against Frohnleiten, and showed to him that he was more than capable of handling the pressures of Austrian football. This time there was a large crowd of 10,000 fans at the Stadion Liebenau for the game with LASK, all with their eyes on the GAK! s Number 9 jersey. He lined-up with up-front with attackers Walter Koleschnik, Hermann Ste_l, Yugoslav Zekovic, Wilhelm Sgerm. Guerts played in goal, with a defence of Gerald Erkinger, Erich Frisch and Alfred Kvlly; Jean Hardt of Luxembourg and Erwin Ninaus in midfield. Despite the players being on a high after the big win only days before, the team produced a below-par performance but thanks to Selim they went into the half-time break one nil up after Selim was left free on the right to hammer home a shot past the LASK keeper in the 39th minute. He celebrated with his team-mates, it was the first goal to be scored by an Egyptian in the Austrian top division. In the second half, GAK created several dangerous chances but their forwards failed to put them away. The visitors took advantage and equalised later on, going home happy with a point.

Following an 8-0 friendly win, GAK came up against Austria Klagenfurt in front of a record crowd of 8000 at the Klagenfurt stadion. Selim was again the centre of attention but failed to liven-up the game as the first half ended goalless. In the second half, the home side were the best of the two teams but thanks to GAKs two foreign imports Selim and Yugoslav Zekovic, they claimed a 2-1 win, keeping their unbeaten start to the Fr|hjahrsmeisterschaft intact. The club had started the first three league rounds with two wins and a draw, gathering five points placing them in 9th position in the league. On Selims arrival, the club hoped the re-enforcement in attack could help the team push up the table and after 4 goals in 5 games, he had already endured himself to the fans of the Roten Teufel (Red Devils). In his second league game, Selim netted another goal for the GAK-Mannschaft in a hard earned 3-0 win over Wacker, continuing the clubs good! form at the start of the spring championship much to the delight of the enthusiastic GAK fans. Then in a friendly game against ASK Voitsberg an old injury stopped Selims progress in Austria as he limped off after only 30 minutes having started brightly. The team won 5-0 but Selim looked to be out injured for the next game against rivals Rapid Vienna. Nursing the injury, Selim was declared fit to start and helped his team snatch a 1-0 victory. On May 11, Selim missed the match against Vienna and the team clearly missed their injured Egyptian playmaker, with most of the teams passing showing no clear direction or purpose. Had Selim been present in the team, they could well have achieved a better result than a 1-1 draw.

With the next game against Austria Wien, who would go onto win the 1962-63 Austrian league, Selim was rushed into the starting line-up He was still clearly not fully fit after the recurring injury had flared up again days before, however he nearly opened the scoring from a long distance shot but it was the Wien team that took control and had a 3-0 lead after 45 minutes play. In the second half, GAKs Yugoslav keeper Eugen Ravnic was injured after the Wien fourth goal left him with a nasty head wound and was later substituted. As a result, Selim still struggling with his injury had to play the full 90 minutes as only one substitute was permitted at the time. With 2500 cheering the home side, they added three more goals to record an emphatic 7-0 win. For the GAK fans, club board and the players the injuries were no excuse for such a big defeat, having produced some great results during the spring championship. After the loss, Selim was out injured for the next league match ! against Wiener Sportklub (3-1 loss), with the 90 minutes he had played having made his injury even worse. He played half of the game in the 2-1 defeat to Flamengo, a friendly game watched by 10,000 at the Stadion Liebenau. The coach Pimperl, having changed the personnel of the team after the disappointing 7-0 defeat to Austria Wien, decided against playing Selim, who was still not fit in his opinion. On the last day of the season, Selim made his comeback from injury. The team had gone a complete face-lift since his last first team game, out went keeper Eugen Ravnic, Wilhem Wili Sgerm, Zekovic and Erwin Ninaus and in came Hansj|rgen Prexl, Ernest Wezelmayor, Walter Loske II and Dr.Helmut Hauser, a striker who had joined the club after graduating as a chemist. But despite the changes the team fell to their twelfth defeat of the season with a 2-1 defeat to Schwechater SC, finishing in 9th position in the Austrian league.

After four months in Austria, ten games and six goals, Selim returned to Cairo. His premature departure was a complete surprise to everyone that had followed his spell with GAK. The club had not had a good year but the playmaking skills of the Egyptian had been one of the bright spots in a relatively disappointing season. In Austria rumours spread that he had left GAK after contract negotiations had fallen through, as the club had not offered him enough money, while there were also reports that the Egyptian military team had forced him back because he was needed in Egypt. However, the truth was Saleh Selim was homesick, with all of his family still back in Cairo. On his return Selim mentioned a few reasons for leaving Austria, one was that he could not bear the rain and the cold and living in Austria with no friends any longer. One of the main reasons was the absence of the warmth feeling he felt at his first love, the Al-Ahly club. "It is my life and my home and I have b! een connected to the club since the age of 14, and it is where I met my teacher and mentor Mukhtar Al-Titch, who taught me the beautiful meaning of the sport and the belonging to the club and till is day, I do not tolerate and do not accept when Al-Ahly is defeated." Saleh Selims relation with his club was not only a relationship between a footballer and his team and its fans but of an human nature and also a place of great significance for himself.

In June of 1963, he returned to Cairo and the red of Al-Ahly. The club was established in 1907, the third oldest Egyptian club, but the first club founded by Egyptians , which was why it was named Al-Ahly, which means the National refering to the idea of patriotism. The club has a long and great history in Egyptian football and with deadly rivals Zamalek dominating the domestic game. When the two sides meet for a derby game, the city of Cairo stands still. In Egypt, most people are either "Ahlawi" or "Zamalkawi", and on match days every aspect of life is split into two for an hour and a half, families, famous Egyptian actors and even politicians are all tuned into the game on TV, radio or standing with the 100,000 fans at the packed Cairo stadium. The teams first met on February 9, 1917 at Zamalek's ground, with Al-Ahly winning 1-0. The second game took place at the Al-Ahly ground on March 2, 1917 and Zamalek, then known as Mokhtalat, won 1-0 The rivalry all started when ! Egypts star of the early 20th century Hussein Hegazi moved between both sides more than twice, taking many of his fans with him with each move. In the mid-30s another transfer, this time of Al-Ahlys Abdel-Karim Sakr increased the bitterness between the two clubs and what made the move worse was that the players uncle became the manager of the Zamalek. Crisis then ensued when one prominent Zamalek official claimed that the uncle was behind the move, this was quickly denied by the coach and at the end the player was given the choice between the two clubs. He chose Zamalek, the officials and fans at Al-Ahly were not amused. The feirce also stems from the old King of Egypt, King Farouk favouring Al-Mokhtalat later renamed Farouk Club. The competitiveness is not only contained to the touchlines or terraces the clubs officials regularly come to blows on decisions on venue and fixture changes, sometimes even refusing to play each other as a result. Selim, the darling of the! Al-Ahly fans scored his first derby goal in a 2-2 draw in 1955 and went onto score fives other goals in all of his derby matches against Zamalek, in a long and distinguished career with the club in which he made his name.

Mohammed Saleh Mohammed Selim, known famously as Saleh Selim was born on September 11, 1930, in Waily, Cairo. The son of Dr.Mohammed Selim and Sharifa Zein, Selims family roots made him a distant relative to the Hashemite Royal family in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The young Selim began his school days at Al-Orman Primary School and it was at this age that Selim first displayed his love for the beautiful game, waking up at 6am in the morning and rushing from Akasha Street in Al-Diqi to the streets near his school, leaving his fez beside the fence to have a kick around with his friends, one of those friends included the famous actor Ahmed Ramzy. At the age of 7, he was selected to play for the Orman school team after being chosen by his PE teacher (Aziz Affendi), competing against other schools team in the area and also played for his local team Akasha Street beside Kashk Am Aboud, who regulerly played against the Harun Street team in a number of local games in the late 1930! s. Selim later went to study at Al-Saidya Secondary, before his father sent him to England to finish his secondary education in the city of Brighton, graduating with a high school diploma. It was his mother that first noticed his talents and it was not long before the scouts from the top clubs were standing at the touchlines mesmerised by the skills of the teenager. In one of his games for the Al-Saidya school team in the school league, he scored an outstanding long range effort from all of 30 yards that caught the attention of Al-Ahly scout Hussein Kamel, who invited him to the club, giving him an appointment to meet him. Selim arrived half-an hour before the scout Mr.Kamel at the doors of Al-Ahly before being met by him and later had the chance to watch the first team players train. At the training session, the youngster looked gleary eyed at the skills of Mohammed Al-Guindy and Mahmoud Abou Habaja, while at the end of his day at the club he was met by the coach of the team, the f! ather of the Al-Ahly club Mahmoud Mukhtar Al-Titch who told him "The Al-Ahly jersey is part of you, it is the colour of your blood". Those words had been written into clubs constitution since it was first founded in 1907 with the passage of Al-Titchs days when he was in Al-Ahly first team playing beside Sayed Othman, Helmi Abou Al-Maati, Fouad Siddiqi, Ahmed Mekawy and many others. It was in 1944 that Saleh Selim joined Al-Ahly, a club where his family had very close links. Selims father was a leading member, while his elder brother Abdel-Wahab and later his younger brother Tarek played for the club. All three of the Selim brothers later played for the Egyptian national team during the 50s and 60s. Selim first joined the junior team and at the age of 17 he was included in the first team squad in the December of 1947 and scored two goals on his debut in a 2-1 win over Al-Masry. His first ever goal for the famous club came from a free-kick. Abdel-Aziz El-Shafei, former Olympic sw! immer and international bridge player, and a close friend of Selims had fond memories of the player, who first met in 1948. "I joined in 1947 as a swimmer and he joined the football team a year later. It was a more innocent, more open-hearted time. Then everyone played for honour, of the game, of country, not for money. Selim's popularity stems not, I think, from him being the most skilful, for there were other very good players, but because, whatever position he held, he always upheld the highest standards".

By the start of 1948, he was already one of the first names on the clubs team-sheet at the age of only 17! Selim made his first league appearance on October 24, 1948 in a 5-0 win over Alexandria based club Yonan on the opening day of the 1948-49 league season and for the club it would be the start of a run that would see them win a all-time record of 9 league titles from 1948 to 1959, and 5 Egyptian Cup wins in the same period. The youngster was just one of the players in a team packed with stars with Abdel Galil Hemaida and later Adel Heikal in goal, Selims younger brother Tarek Selim, El-Sayed Attiya aka Toto, Ahmed Mekawy, Rifat El-Fanagily, Taha Ismail, El-Sayed El-Dhizwi, Mimi El-Sherbini and many others. With the numerous opitions for the coach of Al-Ahly up-front, Selim played in midfield, in his favoured playmaker role, however despite not playing as a striker, he still managed to score a number of goals topping the clubs goalscoring charts 4 times in 1957-58, ! 1959-60, 1960-61 and 1963-64, while winning the Egyptian Player of the Year award in 1958. From his first game to his last day wearing the famous red of Al-Ahly, Saleh Selim scored 92 goals (78 in the Egyptian League and 14 in the Cup competitions), whilst winning a record 19 titles (11 League titles and 8 Egyptian Cup) in a 20 year spell with one of the most successful clubs in the Arab World. He played for Al-Ahly against a number of top European clubs, losing to Barcelona 6-1 in 1960 and than beating Benfica 3-2 two years later.In the early 60s, he played a few friendly matches with an Al-Ahly & Zamalek select side against Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspurs. Selim lined-up against the likes of Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Francisco Gento in 1961, setting up the only goal for the select side, as they lost 7-1. A year later, he scored in a 7-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspurs in Cairo. He refused to sign a professional contract with Al-Ahly for only 10 pounds a month and p! referred instead to play as an amateur while working for the Suez Canal Company but left after he refused to apologise to the for arriving late one day from training.

Two years after making his debut for his club, the 19 year-old reserve military officer was selected to play for the Egyptian military team against Greece on February 17, 1950, Egypt won 2-0 and would go onto become one of the best players to have ever worn the Egyptian jersey, playing for the national side for over 15 years until his last game in 1965. On December 8, 1950, he was named to play in the national side against Turkey alongside Ahmed Kato, Nour El-Dali, Hanafy Bastan, Mahmoud Abou Habaja and El-Sayed El-Dhizwi, Egypt again won 3-0. In the summer of 1960, Selim playing for Egypt came face to face with one of the best footballers in the World, Peli, who had arrived in Egypt to play three matches against the Egyptian national team. The first was played on April 29 in front of a packed Gamal Abdel-Nasser stadium all coming to watch the stars of the World Champions Brazil and their player Peli. Egypt lost 5-0 with goals from two from Pepe and Quarentinha and one fr! om Garrincha. The next game was played in Alexandria two days later with a hat-trick from the great Peli giving his side a 3-1 win and the third and last game was played six days later, Brazil again won, this time with goals from Quarentinha (2) and Garrincha to their side a 3-0 victory. He won the African Cup of Nations in 1957 in Sudan and in Cario in 1959 and played in the 1962 tournament in Ethoipia, scoring one goal in the 2-1 win over Uganda. Selim also represented his country in the 1960 Olympics in Rome and the 1961 Pan-Arab Games in Casablanca. Apart from playing football for Al-Ahly and Egypt, Selim was never a man who shunned his education learning to speak four languages English, French, Italian and Turkish and obtaining his Bachelor of Commerce from Cairo University in 1961, after four years of trying.

Selim was a popular player to millions of fans all over the Middle East and Africa, he was person who spectators felt had a kind of presence on the pitch whenever he trotted onto the green turf. He had some great moments in an impressive playing career, that many will never forget. He thrilled and amazed fans whenever he played and in one game during his career, he scored an Egyptian record seven goals in an emphatic 8-0 win over Ismaili in a league game in April 1958. On the pitch, Selim was known for doing the unexpected and was never shy from trying out new tricks as one bizarre and strange incident in 1962 showed, it happened in a game against Al-Menia, when Al-Ahly were awarded a penalty by the referee. The crowd went wild as the referee blew for a penalty and then went silent as Selim placed the ball on the spot, and started to walk back to take a shot at the keeper, as they all thought. As Selim ran up to the ball, he hit the ball wide, the crowd gasped in shock, h! ad he miss it?. However, it was set play that he and his team-mate Mahmoud El-Gohary had already worked on during training. As Selim had passed it, Gohary raced into the penalty area like a steam-engine in full flow and netted to give Al-Ahly a goal. They won 5-0, that day with Selim netting twice. Nearly twenty years later, in the same unconventional manner, the penalty was recreated by the great Johann Cruyff in a match for Ajax Amsterdam against Helmond Sport. Cruyff placed the ball, and passed the ball forward and to his left to his team-mate Dane Jesper Olsen, who had run into the penalty area and collected the ball and passed it back to Cruyff in the box to score one of the easiest goals in his career. In his career, Selim had never missed a penalty; he nearly did however in one league game, when he took a penalty, which was saved by the keeper. The referee blew his whistle for the penalty to be re-taken after he had adjudged the keeper to have moved before Selim took the k! ick. Not believing that he had not scored on his first attempt, Selim placed the ball once again on the spot, took one step and placed the ball in the top corner of the net. Fans also remember the great header he scored against Brazilian club Fluminense FC, after the game the keeper confessed that he had never seen a greater header throughout his career. Apart from being a hero to millions of fans on the terraces, Selim was also a well-known celebrity in Egypt a recognisable face as President Gamal Abdel-Nasser and singer Umm Kulthom on the streets of Cairo in the 50s and 60s and was the first footballer to appear on the famous TV show Negmak El-Mufadal presented by Laila Rustom.

A month after turning 35, Selim had decided that his time playing was nearly up, and had the intention of playing his last season with Al-Tersana (Arsenal), one of the Egyptian leagues top sides at the time, who had won the league in 1962-63. The legendary Selim was welcomed by the clubs fans and players on his arrival. The teams strikers Moustafa Reyadh and Hassan El-Shazly, were both hoping the trio could form a deadly attack that could challenge Al-Ahly and Zamalek for league and cup honours. However at the last minute, Selim changed his mind, stating that he could never play for any other team but Al-Ahly. In 1965-66, he went into his last season as a player, helping Al-Ahly to a modest 6th place. His last game on November 11, 1966 was against Mahala, Selim did not perform to his best but Ahly won 1-0, thanks to an own goal. At the outbreak of the 1967 War with Israel, Selim at the age of 37 was forced to retire along with many of his Al-Ahly team-mates a! nd in 1980, the Al-Ahly Club were Saleh Selim as president, organised a farewell game for Al-Ahlys 7 big stars of the team of the 1960s, Selim and the six others, Mimi El-Sherbini, Adel Heikal, Rifat El-Fanagily, Taha Ismail, Mahmoud El-Gohary and Selims younger brother Tarek. In November 1967, he was given a unique honour by the Arab Republic of Egypt, as he was awarded a medal for his achievements to sports in Egypt, which was presented to him by President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

Selim was not only a talent on the football field, in the 1960s, he became the first player in Egypt to turn to the big screen and become an actor. The Egyptian film industry is regarded as the Hollywood of Arabia, with Egyptian films being watched by millions all over the Arab World from Morocco to Iraq. With friends in the thriving film industry like famous actors Omar Sharif and Ahmed Ramzy, who he had known since his childhood, Selim decided to go into the acting profession. In 1961, he became the first footballer in Egypt, Arabia and probably the world to star in a movie. His looks did not hinder his chances of succeeding in his new job with his tall and slim build, his soulful eyes, slicked-back hair and perfect cheek bones, he already had the movie star looks. He made his first big screen appearance in Atif Salems Al-Sabha Banat (The Seven Girls) starring Suad Hosni, Nadia Latifa and Ahmed Ramzy. Selim played ???. A year later, he starred in Al-Shomou' A! l-Sawda (The Black Candles), directed by Ezzaddin Zualfaqar, which earned him great acclaim for his acting abilities alongside his co-stars Fouad El-Mohandes and the former child star Nagat El-Saghira, one of Egypts most famous classical singers. His co-star Fouad Al-Mohandes remembered the first day of filming "Ezzaddin Zualfaqar, who directed the film was sitting with me and Saleh Selim and before he turned on the camera, he described for us the scene exactly the way he wanted it, and we took notes and translated into the scenes". Selim entered the studio to start filming after four months of training and playing in the Egyptian championship with Al-Ahly and having acting lessons, however despite the success of the film, Selim was not pleased with it and never watched the film whenever it was shown on Egyptian television.

After ending his acting and playing careers, he returned to Al-Ahly as an administrative manager of the clubs football teams in February 1971 but resigned after a short while after he complained about the interference of his work from the clubs board of committee. He returned in October 1971 after he was given full control, as he set out giving youth a chance, a principle that is still followed at Al-Ahly till this day. A year later, he joined the clubs board after being elected but resigned the next day after friction between president Abdel-Mohsen Kamel over disagreements of the clubs first teams matches on radio. The maestro, quickly began to make changes when in 1980 he became the first footballer to become the clubs president with 1988 of the votes, ahead of Mr.Mortaga, 577 votes and Kamal Hafez who recieved 330 votes. In 1984, he was re-elected for another four years until he was beaten by another former Al-Ahly player Mohamed Abdou Saleh El-Wahsh but in the t! rue legend of Saleh Selim after He initially refused to run for the post he persuaded by the club's members to run for president for another time and won going onto holded the position for a 10 years until his tragic untimely death on May 6, 2002 at the age of 71, from liver cancer after undergoing several operations to remove part of his colon at a London hospital. Under his pionering leadership, he had made the club one of the best teams in Arabia and Africa, and in 2000 he picked up the African Club of the Century award from the African Football Confederation for the clubs achievements beating rivals Zamalek. A year later, the great Real Madrid, regarded as Europes best ever club came to Cairo with a team that included Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane to play Al-Ahly, they lost 1-0, and for one day Al-Ahly were crowned World Club Champions. Selims funeral reminded many Egyptians of the funerals of President Nasser and Um Kulthoum, as tens of thousands of peop! le converged on the clubs headquarters, holding aloft photos and newspapers with the headlines "We will never forget him" "He was a man who adhered to his principles," "He will remain in our hearts always." as his body began its last journey. Traffic stood still in parts of the city by the time his body arrived at the Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque before proceeding to the family burial grounds at Six of October City. Many people came to pay their last respects to the great man ranging from his family members, his wife and sons Khalid and Hisham, his brother Tarek, Al-Ahlys current squad, actors like Adel Emam, Ezzat Al-Alaily and Salah Al-Saadani, senior government officials including Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Maher and Chief of Presidential Staff Zakaria Azmi, who were attending as a representatives of Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak and thousands of fans from Al-Ahly, Zamalek and other clubs. "Selim was the dearest and precious son of the club. He is the greatest and uniq! ue symbol of soccer and sports, a fluttering flag of the nation and the knight who led the club's victories for a half century," the club wrote in his obituary. As a show of respect and an indication, of how much Selim had done for Egyptian football as a player in the 50s and 60s and as president of Al-Ahly, the 2001-2002 Egyptian League was renamed the Saleh Selim Championship. The player nicknamed the maestro for the combination of his footballing skills, and for the way in which he marshalled his players on the field. He was a genius, a legend even in his mid-20s, and was recognised by fans, who loved football and by millions who had never watched a game. He was arguably Egypt's most celebrated sports figure ever and with his achievements as a player, actor and president of the Al-Ahly club, he will never be forgotten by all of Egypt and the Arab World.

By Hassanin Mubarak ( Iraq Football )