Marwan Dawoud’s Inspiring Story: From Third Division to international football in 90 Days

CAIRO - 13 December 2021:  For stories like this one, football is referred to as the beautiful game.

Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar witnessed one of the most beautiful moments in the history of the Egyptian national team when Marwan Dawoud scored Egypt’s third goal in the game against Jordan minutes before the final whistle, securing Egypt’s qualification to the semi-finals of the FIFA Arab Cup.

Marwan Dawoud burst into tears of happiness after his header found the back of the net and his teammates ran towards him with happy smiles on their faces. The player could not believe that he scored a goal wearing the historic jersey of the Pharaohs, achieving what was impossible to achieve last summer.

Dawoud spent the last 3 years of his career in the third division with El-Shams and his move to Enppi last summer did not catch the attention of football fans, but this move was the biggest of his career as he finally got the chance to prove himself in the top division of Egyptian football.

Marwan’s transfer to one of the top clubs in the country was not the only surprise for him as he quickly received his first call-up to represent the national team when Carlos Queiroz included him in the team’s final list for the FIFA Arab Cup.

The squad announcement raised many questions, especially about Marwan Dawoud’s presence as most football fans were hearing his name for the first time.

The player debuted with the national team in the last 10 minutes of Egypt’s comfortable 5-0 win over Sudan. And when he won his second participation on Saturday against Jordan, he was ready to show the reason why Queiroz believed in him.

When the Pharaohs were leading 2-1 and locking forward to securing the victory, Dawoud stepped up to score the goal with a beautiful header. You can see through the reactions of the Egyptian players on the pitch and on the touch line that this man deserved a moment with such importance.

“To score a goal for the national team and help my teammates win a difficult game is a dream come true for me,” Dawoud said after the game.

Whatever Dawoud will experience in his career, he will always remember the night he scored his first goal with the national team.