Hassan Zuleikh.. the Eagle’s missile and the holder of the first hat-trick in the Gulf Cup tournaments

He went through an exciting journey with the Gulf Cup tournaments, during which he experienced many great players and stars in all teams, and he represented a unique case in the Bahraini team, where he experienced 4 different generations of strikers, starting with Ahmed bin Salmeen, Khalifa bin Salman, Salem Mubarak and Jassim Hamad, and then in The second session was with Hassan Ali and Muhammad Jaknam, and in the third he accompanied Fouad Bushkar and Salman Sherida, and finally the fourth was next to Khalil Shuwayer and Muhammad Bahram.

He is the Eagles’ missile, as the Bahraini fans in general and Al-Ahly fans in particular called him, the star Hassan Zuleikh, who entered history from its widest doors after his success in scoring the first hat-trick in the Gulf Cup tournaments when he visited the Qatari net in the second Gulf tournament in the match that ended with Bahrain 6-2.

Zuleikh also participated with Bahrain in 4 consecutive Gulf tournaments, and despite the injuries that deprived the Gulf and Bahraini fans of his superior skills, he succeeded in leaving a heavy ink mark in every tournament he participated in, and was the winner of Bahrain’s goal against the Qatari team during the opening match of the tournament on 1970.

Then came the second round in Riyadh, and he succeeded in leaving a historic imprint when he scored a hat-trick in the Qatari net. In the third round hosted by Kuwait, he scored a single goal against the Omani team. Finally, in the fourth round in the Qatari capital, Doha, he played only a few minutes during the Bahrain and Iraq match, and he went out injured and out of the stadiums because of it for one season.

Zuleikh’s journey began with the ball in Al Furjan stadiums, where he played on small spaces that brought out many Bahraini football stars. Coach Muhammad Al Khalqoon was the one who adopted him and taught him the basics and principles of football. He started his football career with Ras Rumman Club in the second degree, and ascended with him to the first. He was very young, and then he faced with Ras Rumman, Al-Ahly club, which he loved, and the team won with the goal of Zuleikh.

Zoleikh loved Al-Ahly club and loved it madly since his early childhood, so that his idols were Adnan Ayoub and Abdel Wahab Al-Asoumi, and he walked on his feet for long distances from his residence to the club’s training to watch his players.

Hassan Zuleikh’s most famous goal was against Riffa in the 1965/1966 season, the same year in which he joined his favorite club, Al-Ahly, who had always dreamed of playing with it, and his football career ended with a unique event, when the directives of the country’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (the Crown Prince at that time) came) came for the Football Association and officials to organize a retirement match for him on the National Day, December 16, 1980, and in fact it was the end point in the shining star’s journey against Al-Qadisiyah of Kuwait studded with gold stars, they succeeded in achieving the Asian Cup title with the Kuwaiti Blue just one month before the retirement match.