Charles Kumi Gyamfi was the most decorated man to coach at the AFCON until the legendary Egyptian Hassan Shehata started his enviable journey in the 2006 AFCON.
The former Egyptian forward, born in Kafr El Dawwar, Beheira won 52 caps and scored 14 goals for the Pharaohs.
Heading into the 2006 AFCON, Egypt had gone 18 years without winning the coveted trophy. Egypt hosted the 25th edition and Hassan Shehata named only 3 foreign-based players among his 23-man squad- the 20 were all playing in Egypt. 9 players were selected from Al Ahly, 6 players from Zamalek with Haras El Hodoud, ENPPI, Ismaily and Al-Masry all having players in Shehata’s squad.
Ahmed Hassan (Besiktas), Mido (Tottenham) and Abder-Zaher El-Saqqa (Konyaspor) were the foreign-based players.
Egypt played unbeaten and even met Ivory Coast twice- in the Group Stage and the finals and won both.
Hassan Shehata made history as he led Egyot to become the most successful team in the AFCON with 5 titles.
Egypt continued their wonderful performance two years later with the core of the 2006 squad in CAN 2008 hosted by Ghana. They defeated Cameroon twice including a 1-0 win in the finals and thrashed Ivory Coast (4-1) in the semi-finals.
In 2010 in Angola, Egypt finished the competition unbeaten including 3 wins in the group stages, a 3-1 win over Cameroon in the quarter-finals, a 4-0 win against Algeria in the semi-finals and an 85th-minute winner from Nagy Gedo in front of 50,000 spectators at the Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda against Ghana in the finals helped Hassan Shehata made history.
Egypt played 3 AFCONs and was undefeated in 6 years. They won the 3 trophies and outclassed any team that came their way.
Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Algeria and Nigeria were the giants between 2005 and 2010 on the continent but none was able to stop the Pharaohs led by the magical Hassan Shehata.
Hassan Shehata was the second coach to win the AFCON on three occasions after Ghana’s Charles Kumi Gyamfi. What makes his record more impressive is that he won it back-to-back-to-back.
Tactically, Hassan Shehata was unbeatable as his confidence and belief were unbelievable. His decision-making was so perfect to the extent that it made the changes in games for him.
His name will always be on the lips of African football fans.
