Metab’s international retirement a result of unjust criticism?

Egypt are through to the second round of the Olympic games in London, but the national team will lose a huge asset in games to come. Emad Metab, the Egyptian striker, has announced his retirement from international football once Egypt’s journey in the olympics comes to an end. This decision comes after tons of criticizing from the Egyptians to Metab for his display against New Zealand in the second game of the group stages. Talking to Al Ahly TV, Metab states his frustration regarding the criticism he’s been getting, and he claims that he accepts any sorts of criticism but if it is on his performance in a match, and claims that people took it too far by criticizing every aspect of his life, even those that don’t have to do with football!

Emad Metab declaring international retirement on Al Ahly TV after the Olympics:

عماد متعب يقرر الاعتزال دوليا عقب الاولمبياد by ELAHLYCOM

I have criticized Metab for his display against New Zealand, but people are taking the criticism way too far, by stating that Metab is an awful football player and that he doesn’t deserve to be wearing the Egyptian shirt. People forget that this same player has scored the goal that made Egypt play against Algeria in the playoffs for a spot in the 2010 World Cup. People have been way too harsh on Metab just because he had two bad performances in the Olympics and forget that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had a horrible world cup and are still considered to be the best players in the world today. Fernando Torres also had not only one bad tournament, but his club form since his move to Chelsea has been very poor, and people still consider him as a world class striker, and he proved that in the Euros.

Metab struggles when he plays as a lone striker upfront and we saw the best of him when Flavio partnered him in attack when he played in Al Ahly, yet managers still decide to play him as a lone striker which isolates him completely. In my opinion this was the main reason why Metab had a bad game against New Zealand was because he was a lone striker, and we saw that he played well in the second half of the game against Belarus in the last game of the group stages when Hani Ramzi decided to partner him with Marwan Mohsen upfront. I was curious to know how well Metab performed for the national team, and found that Metab scored 34 goals in 68 games for Egypt which is a 0.5 ratio for goals per game. There was another source that said that Metab scored 33 goals in 69 games which is a ratio of 0.48 goals/game.

I compared Metab’s statistics to the best strikers of the world and I was surprised to the results I found:

• Emad Metab: 0.48-0.50

• Arjen Robben: 0.283
• Cristiano Ronaldo: 0.39
• Lionel Messi: 0.37
• Robin Van Persie: 0.43
• Raul: 0.43
• Fernando Torres: 0.32
• Mario Gomez: 0.44
• Zine el Din Zidane: 0.29
• Diego Maradona: 0.37
• Wayne Rooney: 0.38
• Hossam Hassan: 0.41
• Mohamed Zidan: 0.3
• Lukas Podolski: 0.44
• Karim Benzema: 0.31
• Thierry Henry: 0.41
• Sergio Aguero: 0.42
• Alessandro Del Piero: 0.3
• Fransesco Totti: 0.16
• Filippo Inzaghi: 0.44
• Michael Owen: 0.45
• Diego Forlan: 0.375
• Radamel Falcao: 0.31
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 0.41
• Samuel Etoo: 0.49
• Alan Shearer: 0.48
• Ian Rush: 0.38
• Jurgen Klinsmann: 0.44
• Marco Van Basten: 0.41
• Rivaldo: 0.46
• Robbie Fowler: 0.27
• Andriy Shevchenko: 0.43
• Henrik Larsson: 0.35
• Roberto Baggio: 0.48

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3 Comments

1. 

   wa7ed

   August 2, 2012 at 11:14 AM

   i agree that statistics put him in a good position.. but i remember since CAN2008 how i was always frustrated by him. he somehow leaves the impression that he doesnt really care.. and misses the easiest of chances.. he also left a very negative impression by refusing to go play in belgium! however, i think it’s possible that he is the best option for coaches sometimes.. as other players might not do better.

   i also believe that egypt’s press with their criticism, and the people’s criticism of players in general (from the 1st day they start playing football) are THE main reason for the under-achievement of egyptian soccer.

   Reply
2. 

   derini

   August 2, 2012 at 11:29 AM

   Meteb has done alot for Egypt and for Ahli, however his form has slumped terribly in the last two years. Yes there are many reasons on why however this is the reality right now and he might get back to his best again. Does he deserve to start the answer is simple; no, 3 games in a row and he hasn’t performed and has hurt the team more than help.. Same for ahli, Meteb is missing chance after chance. yes he has scored plenty of goals but now he is in a drought and he shouldn’t be starting for Egypt or Ahli when there are better options till he gains his confidence and than can come back.. And if he is such a sore looser and cant handle the pressure from the fans and decided to quit than we shouldn’t be trying to back him up.. If anything he knows he missed a terrible shot and came up and says i was shoved and lost balance, come on take it like a man… he deserves all the criticism and should step up and let his goals do the talking and prove the fans wrong not quit

   Reply
3. 

   Karim Salama

   August 4, 2012 at 6:56 AM

   Statistics are interesting to use, however they can also be subjective based on how they are presented. Yes his Goal Scoring ratio is the .4 to .5 range (one source i found give him 29goals in 68 appearances) but it would be interesting to see the stats regarding his chance conversion ratio. Or how about his goal scoring rate in the last 2 or 3 years. Also Emad Meteb is one of the most unprofesional footballers in our history. Right after signing for Bristol City he played a full ACL game for Ahly and had the deal terminated, this is followed by signing for Standard Leige and again reneging on his commitments. It would be a great benefit to Egyptian football if he would retire so up and coming strikers can make their mark on the national team nad at club level.

   Reply