Al-Mas is the jewel of Yemen… History and absolute stardom

The jewel of Yemen and the player of the century in the referendum in 2000 AD, a star from the beautiful time, the captain of the Yemeni national team and the Al-Tilal club, its scorer and its playmaker, he achieved with it the first championship in the club’s history in 1991 AD, and he has played for it since its founding in 1975 AD.

He is Abu Bakr Al-Mas, the son of Yemeni artist Ibrahim Muhammad Al-Mas, and his two brothers Ali and Nasser Ibrahim Muhammad Al-Mas, stars of the Al-Ahrar Sports Club in the 1960s.

Abu Bakr Al-Mas was born in July 1955. He started playing football in the lane, then moved to the school (Al-Marsabah) and won the approval of everyone who saw him. He was distinguished by his magical touches, perfect passes and wonderful goals. He joined the youth groups of the Al-Ahrar team, which formed with the solidarity of Muhammadi, Al-Shabab Al-Riyadi and Al-Hussaini when merging the four clubs of the Red Castle in the city of Crater, the natural spherical historical extension of the first club in Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula and its Gulf, and it is one of the three oldest clubs in the Arab world (Al-Ittihad Al-Muhammadi), which Its beginnings came at the beginning of the twentieth century, 1905 AD.

Abu Bakr Al-Mas joined the national teams at an early age. He played more than 60 international matches, during which he scored more than 30 goals. His first test was in 1972 in the first team in Aden Governorate, among the giants of Yemeni football at the time. He was chosen at the request of the coach and ambassador of Yemen in China later, Ibrahim Saidi, then played for the youth team in 1975 AD, during the Asian Championship in Kuwait, where he presented a great level with his colleagues and succeeded in qualifying for the second round, to come out honorably against the host Kuwait, and in the same year he joined the first national team, and participated with it in the school course Alexandria, the 1976 Arab Championship, the 1976 Asian Nations Finals in Iran, the 1980 Moscow Olympics qualifiers, the Arab Cup qualifiers in Riyadh, the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, the 1988 Asian Nations qualifiers. This generation is considered the best team for the national team, stars and coaches in the history of Yemeni football, led by the legend Ali Mohsen Merisi, the Egyptian star of Zamalek, the unique football phenomenon in the sixties of the last century.

Abu Bakr Al-Mas was the youngest to play for the national team, as he joined it at the age of 17 and left it as its leader, and he is the first captain of the Yemeni team after Al Wahda 1991 AD.

During his career, he achieved 6 championships in the General League, and was the top scorer in two championships. He also won with Al-Tilal the Cup Championship for three times, and several different local championships and cups, including: Exhibition Exhibition Cup 1977, First Yemen Cup 1980, Independence Cup 1981, Lighting Cup 1984, the 1986 Martyrs’ Cup. He also won with Al-Tilal a number of cups and sevens in dirt and grassy courts.

Among the unforgettable confrontations of this star, the Al-Tilal and Al-Wahda match Al-Adani 1982 AD at Al-Hubaishi Stadium, in the presence of the then President of the International Federation, accompanied by the late Sheikh Fahd Al-Ahmad, where Al-Tilal won it 2/3 after the Al-Wahda team advanced two goals to one, then Abu Bakr Al-Mas came after the middle of the second half and overturned the table scoring two wonderful goals in the goalkeeper’s goal, Captain Fahd Abdel Qader, amid the audience’s astonishment at the high technique of diamonds.

Abu Bakr Al-Mas is unique in that he played within four generations, as he played during the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties, and trained the third millennium generation.

On Tuesday, June 23, 1992, the Jewel of Yemen retired, which was honored by the leaders of the state and its political, cultural and social symbols, and no player received such honor. The song’s ambassador and pioneer in contemporary Yemeni history, Abu Bakr Salem Balfakih, honored him in a distinguished artistic ceremony attended by the brightest stars of art, sports, politics and media. In the forefront of them are the artists Muhammad Saad Abdullah and Khalil Muhammad Khalil, the artist Amal Kaadl, and among the stars of Aden Iman Ibrahim and several popular groups.