Stephan Kareem el-Shaarawy is the well-known football son of an Italian mother, Lucy El Shaarawy, and an Egyptian father, Sabri El Shaarawy. His father’s Egyptian heritage is why he uses the nickname “The Pharaone.” Raised in a devout Muslim household, Stephan’s family has a deep connection with football. Besides Stephan being a professional footballer, his brother Manuel Shaarawy is a football agent.
This article delves into Stephan’s journey, starting from the streets of Savona, Italy, where he began playing football around the age of five or six before joining Legino in Savona. Inspired by his idol, Ricardo Kaka, Stephan’s performance improved significantly. Known for nearly two decades in football, both in real life and in PlayStation video games, Stephan made his professional debut at 16, becoming the eighth youngest player in Serie A history to make a first-team appearance.
In essence, this article explores Stephan El Shaarawy’s life journey, including his love story with his childhood sweetheart, Ester Giordano. Without further ado, let’s dive into the details of his remarkable career and personal life.
Who Remembers Stephan El Shaarawy? Explore his Untold Story
We present the Full Story of an Italian Football Genius with Egyptian family roots, a Baller who is best known by the Nickname; “The Pharaone”.
Our Stephan El Shaarawy Childhood Biography story brings to you a complete account of notable events from his early years to the moment he achieved fame.
The analysis of Stephan El Shaarawy’s Bio involves more than just his Egyptian background but his life story before fame, family life and many off-pitch, little-known facts about the Arab descent who represented Italy at Euro 2024.
Yes, everyone knows about his pace, dribble and agility, but not many have read Stephan El Shaarawy’s Biography, which is quite interesting. Now, without further ado, let’s Begin.
Stephan El Shaarawy Childhood Story – Early Life and Family Background:
For Biography starters, Stephan Kareem el-Shaarawy was born on the 27th day of October 1992 in Savona, Italy. El Shaarawy was born to his Italian mother, Lucy El Shaarawy, and his Egyptian father, Sabri El Shaarawy. Alongside Mbappe and Lamine Yamal, El Shaarawy is among the European footballers of Arab descent who are making an impact in the sport. Let’s not forget William Saliba, whose mum is Lebanese.
His Dad, Sabri El Shaarawy, because of harsh economic conditions, left Egypt and migrated to Italy to start his family. Below is a photo of Stephan El Shaarawy’s parents.
Stephan El Shaarawy’s Parents. His Mother’s name is Lucy, and his Father is Sabri El Shaarawy.
Just like İlkay Gündoğan, Stephan was raised as a nominal Muslim, and he grew up with his one and only brother Manuel Shaarawy, who happens to be his agent and a big supporter of football.
Stephan’s childhood story is interesting, if not uncommon – it’s about that of a cute little boy who found himself blessed with extraordinary football talent. In fact, he dreamed of football since his childhood days.
As a child, Stephan was used to playing several sports but was more attached to football. When he was five or six, his parents allowed him to join Legino, a club in Savona. Stephan stayed there till he was 11.
Despite focusing on becoming a professional footballer, Stephan still managed to study, thanks to his mum. He was top of his class.
His parents agreed that their son had to finish school before registering for his first club, as seen in the ID below.
The football academy ID card of Stephan El Shaarawy.
Because of academics, El Shaarawy became a late starter in full-time football. He started his youth career with Genoa quite late, at the age of fourteen.
Despite starting late, Stephan broke into the first team in no time and that helped him grow in every sense of the sport.
By watching the videos of Ricardo Kaka, his role model, Stephan got a springboard, which led to continuous improvement.
His dad also contributed by granting him and his footballing friends permission to play in his little backyard behind his family house, not minding the noise it might cause.
Stephan El Shaarawy Biography – Rising to Fame:
Young Stephan believed in himself and showed commitment and determination in everything he did. As far as football was concerned, it was more about what he did with his head than his legs.
Stephan remained humble all through winning and losing situations. He was used to sorting out advice from his friends and family on areas he could improve.
On 21 December 2008, at just 16 years old, Stephan made his debut for the first team, becoming the eighth youngest player in Serie A history to achieve this milestone in Italy’s top division.
However, his career went sour due to a series of injury-hit campaigns which spanned between 2013 and 2015. This happened after having an unsuccessful surgery on his right foot, which failed to heal effectively.
After a period of long absence through another injury, his club, Milan, decided to ship him out to Monaco on a season-long loan with an option to buy.
While on loan, Monaco played him foul, and his case became worse. Within that same loan season, Stephan got frozen out of the squad at a time when he was one game short of Monaco, activating the conditional obligation to buy him.
Disappointingly, he was shipped back to Milan, who quickly loaned him out to Roma as their loan agreement was more favourable and permanent.
A miracle came when Stephan scored a half-scorpion flicked back heel goal for Roma which made his deal remain permanent. The rest, as they say, is now history.
Ester Giordano and Stephan El Shaarawy Love Story:
A report has it that Stephan started his relationship on the playground with his childhood sweetheart, Ester Giordano.
Their relationship took them from bestie status to true love. Stephan once recalled one of his earliest childhood memories, which was declaring his love for Ester and believing they could get married someday.
Besides his professional career, Stephan El-Shaarawy is known to be an enjoyer of life with his girlfriend, Ester Giordano whom he is seriously dating.
Ester Giordano and Stephan are pictured together.
As of this writing, they have not married, and they do not have any biological or adopted children. All they do is get loved up every day and spend quality time at the seaside.
Stephan El Shaarawy Personal Facts:
The Superstar Baller has many football attributes to his personality. Starting off, we present his Football rankings pictured below.
Favourite dish: Trofie al pesto – a typical Genovese dish and Cantonese fried rice.
Strengths: He is cooperative, diplomatic, gracious, fair-minded, and social.
Weaknesses: He could be indecisive, avoid confrontations, and will carry a grudge and self-pity.
What he likes: He loves Flyboarding (as seen in the picture below), being superstitious, having pre-match rituals, gentleness, sharing with others and having fun outdoors (again as seen below).
Dislikes: At all times, Stephan dislikes violence, injustice, loudmouths, and conformity.
In summary, Stephan is peaceful and fair and hates being alone. Partnership for him is very important.
According to Stephan, the only thing that should be truly important to him is his own inner core of personality and his love for Ester.
El Shaarawy is someone who does not conflict among family members and close friends, keeping his peace whenever possible.
Stephan El Shaarawy Family Life:
Stephan comes from a middle-class family background, once operated by his father, Sabri El Shaarawy. Both parents pictured below started having their children during their late 30s.
It is pertinent to note that back then, as a child, Stephan’s mum, Lucia Shaarawy, was more in support of her son continuing his education, while his dad wanted a combination of both education and football.
About Stephan El Shaarawy Brother:
Stephan has a kid brother named Manuel El Shaarawy. Instead of leaning on his big brother’s wealth, Manuel, pictured below, became a football agent.
All thanks to his mum, Lucia. In less than 25 years, Manuel Shaarawy has become a master’s degree holder in Markets and Business Strategies from the Faculty of Economics at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.
His academic experience now joins his professional field in managing his brother’s career.
About Stephan El Shaarawy Hair Facts:
Once upon a time, Stephan’s fan Aldo once said…“My six-year-old son wants hair like yours. What should he do?”
“There’s only one thing to do, and that’s to take him to my hairdresser! I have three actually – one in Savona, one in Milan and one here in Rome.”
Aldo’s son ended up having Stephan’s hairstyle, as seen below.
How long does it take you to comb your hair in the morning? And what gel do you use?
Stephan’s response…“Not very long at all. It hardly needs anything to do to it nowadays. I don’t even comb it. I just give it a blow with the hairdryer, use a bit of wax – not gel – and some hairspray to hold it in place, and that’s it.”
Stephan El Shaarawy’s Idol:
According to Stephan El Shaarawy… “I always used to watch Kaka when I was young – when he was at AC Milan. He was my role model, both on and off the pitch. He always came across as really down-to-earth, even before I met him.
Then I got to know him one time when we played Real Madrid in a friendly match in America, and he was exactly as I had imagined – a wonderful person, besides being a fantastic footballer.”
Rejected by his Father’s Land (Egypt):
Stephan initially qualified to play for the Egypt national football team, but then-coach Hassan Shehata denied him, claiming that
“not every Egyptian playing for a foreign league qualifies to play for the national side.”
Disappointed by this decision, El Shaarawy turned to play with the Italy U-17 team, participating in both the 2009 UEFA U-17 Euro and the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Final notes:
Thanks for reading Stephan El Shaarawy’s Biography. Have you read Mateo Retegui‘s life history? From the Egyptian side, the Life Histories of Ibrahima Konate and Mohammed Salah will excite you.
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