Sarah Essam Hassanin ( Arabic: سارة عصام; born 6 April 1999) is an Egyptian footballer who plays as a midfielder, winger, or attacker for English club Rugby Borough in the National League South and the Egypt women's national team.
Essam enrolled in the University of Derby where she studied civil engineering. [1] [2] [3] She also played for her university team, alongside Stoke, and was awarded a football scholarship for her senior year. [4] [5]
Essam played soccer with her siblings when she was a child and also played basketball. [6] She joined the academy at Wadi Degla. She made her debut for the first team at age 15 and was the youngest player in the Egyptian Women's Premier League. [7]
After playing in Egypt, Essam became the first Egyptian woman to play competitive football in the UK when she signed with Stoke City FC in 2017. [6] [8] [9] [10] She also tried out at Sunderland, Derby County, and Birmingham. [11] In 2018-19, she was the Stoke City Ladies' Development Team's top scorer, scoring 12 goals in 12 matches and receiving their Golden Boot award. [12] [13] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the English FA's Women's National League season results were expunged, and Essam returned to Egypt to train. [10]
In 2022, she signed with Fundacion Albacete in the Primera Federacion, the second division of Spanish women's football. [11] [14] [4]
In 2023, she signed with Rugby Borough FC as part of the team's rebranding efforts. [15]
Essam played with the Egypt U-17 national team in 2016 World Cup qualifiers. [14] At age 16, she was called up to the national team in 2016 to participate in 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, before being dropped for the tournament itself. [6] [2]
Essam featured in Egypt's third-place finish at the 2021 Arab Women's Cup, scoring one goal in Egypt's 2-5 semifinal defeat to Jordan. [16]
She was called up for 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification in September 2023. [17] She scored in both legs of Egypt's 8-0 aggregate victory over South Sudan. [18] [19]
Essam's brother is a former goalkeeper for Al Mokawloon. [15]
Essam has worked with fashion designer Deana Shaaban, helping to showcase Shaaban's womenswear collection. [3] She counts Mo Salah as one of her role models. [7]
In 2018, Essam was received the Arab Woman of the Year: Achievement in Sport award by the Arab Federation in London. [2] [3]
She served as part of the BBC's commentating team for the 2017 CAF Award ceremony, the 2019 Women's World Cup and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. [6] [2] [20]
Essam was an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup, working alongside David Beckham. [4] [15]
Essam also signed with Adidas, making her the first Egyptian footballer the sporting giant has signed. [15]
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 19 February 2023 | Fouad Chehab Stadium, Jounieh, Lebanon | ![]() |
2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |