Faryd Mondragon is the kind of name that deserves a place in World Cup record books. The Colombian goalkeeper, who came on as a substitute four years ago in Brazil, was the oldest man to play in the World Cup. But on Just 25, 2018, that record was smashed by two years and 168 days in Volgograd, Russia.
Enter Essam El-Hadary, Egypt’s record-setting custodian.
In the final round of group stage fixtures at Russia 2018, the Pharaohs’ game against Saudi Arabia was one of only two dead rubbers among the 16 matches. For two eliminated teams, there was nothing to play for but the proverbial pride.
Win-less in the group, struggling with controversies, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Egypt vs Saudi Arabia would not have figured on too many people’s must-watch list of games. And for the most part, it loved up to that particular billing.
You would not have guessed it had you just been watching El-Hadary’s reactions, though.
True veteran of the game
To put his achievement in perspective, El Hadary made his debut for Egypt in 1996, a year before his Egypt teammate and a substitute during the Saudi game, Ramadan Sobhy, was born. He is older than three of the managers at the 2018 World Cup finals: Belgium’s Roberto Martínez, Serbia’s Mladen Krstajic, and Senegal’s Aliou Cissé.
And what a game he had. Egypt might have ended up losing 2-1 to goals in the fifth minute of stoppage time in both halves, but El Hadary did his best between the posts, and his best was often spectacular.
To add to his many records, he became the first ever African goalkeeper to save a penalty at the World Cup and it will go down as one of the saves of the tournament.
In the 39th minute of the match, with Fahad Al Muwallad’s spot-kick heading to the corner of the goal, El Hadary threw himself to his right, got his fingertips to it and pushed it on to the crossbar. Once the rebound was dealt with, the 45-year-old sank to his knees and looked skywards as his teammates roared in celebration around him.
He did not stop there. In the second half, with the scores now 1-1, he made two more stunning stops – rising high and stooping low to stop tow goal-bound headers. And celebrated each of them like he had scored himself.
Imagine that. Playing at the World Cup when you are 45 is one thing, but pulling off spectacular saves to show that you could still do it at the grandest stage the sport has to offer is incredible. He showed he still belonged.
“I’m really so happy. I’m the happiest person in the world to set this record. I can thank my teammates because they are the power that got me to the record but I’m really so sad on the other hand with the result,” said El Hadary after the match.
The man, nicknamed “High Dam”, was playing the match as if the country’s World Cup hopes depended on this result. You did not have to be a football expert to know that this was a match that meant the world to him. You just had to look at his reaction to Mohamed Salah’s goal that put Egypt ahead.
Speaking of reactions to Salah’s goal, another one stood out – that of Salah.
Muted celebrations
In a complete contrast to El Hadary’s heart-on-the-sleeve display, Salah’s muted celebration spoke volumes. While he ran his socks off all game and came close to scoring twice, Salah otherwise looked like a man who has been weighed down by everything that has gone on before and during the World Cup. The pressure on him has been immense, so much so that there were rumours that Salah, if he did feature against Saudi Arabia, would be playing for the last time for Egypt.
This is not to say Salah’s muted celebrations are a sign that he is on the verge of quitting – no one knows that for sure but him. But it is not difficult to see that this hasn’t been a happy tournament for him.
Missing the opener due to injury, seeing his side return with zero points from three games after hopes that this would be the edition that Egypt would finally end their win-less run at the World Cup finals – these are not easy situations to handle.
Egypt’s problems run deep and that is just speaking strictly about their on-field issues. Off-field issues is a can of worms that is best left unopened for now.
By the end of the match, El Hadary was egging the crowd on to support his team as they tried to hold on to a draw. You could see the veins pop up in his face as he goaded the fans on.
While the veteran – a legend of the past – lived every moment of the match like it was his first on the football pitch, the star – the hope for the future – looked dejected and bogged down for the most part of the match, waiting for it to end.
Football, sometimes, can be an ironic beast.
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