Youssef Obama


Youssef Ibrahim, nicknamed Youssef Obama, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a Midfielder for Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek.
A product of the Zamalek youth system, he made his debut for the club in the Egyptian Premier League in 2014. He was sent out on loan twice between 2015 and 2016, with Al Ittihad and Wadi Degla, before returning to Zamalek.

Career

Obama began his career with Zamalek, being promoted from the under-23 squad to the first team in July 2014 by manager Mido. He was given the nickname Obama due to his resemblance to former U.S. President Barack Obama. In 2015, he joined Al Ittihad on a season long loan deal, along with teammate Ahmed Samir. He scored seven goals in 31 appearances to finish the season as the club's top goalscorer.
During his loan spell with Al Ittihad, Obama missed the funeral of his mother in order to play for the club. Having learned of his mother's death hours before a match against El Entag El Harby, he decided to remain with the squad and scored the winning goal in the match before breaking down in tears during his celebration. He later commented, "I wanted to follow my mother’s wishes not to leave my team for any reason." Obama attracted worldwide attention for his reaction to missing a penalty during an Egyptian Premier League match while on loan with Al Ittihad. After seeing his penalty saved, Obama ran straight off the pitch and into the tunnel forcing manager Mokhtar Mokhtar to make a substitution as he failed to return to the pitch.
The following year was sent out on loan again with Wadi Degla, scoring twice in fourteen appearances. After returning to Zamalek, Obama agreed a transfer to Portuguese side C.D. Feirense following the expiration of his contract. However, the transfer was later cancelled and he signed a new four-year contract with Zamalek.

Honours

Zamalek