11/02/2023
In the first half of Egyptian league 2003–2004, Aboutrika scored 3 goals for Tersana. In January 2004, he was offered a position in Egypt's and Africa's top football team, Al Ahly. He scored 11 goals in his first 13 appearances with Al Ahly in 2003–2004 season (all in the league), coming in the second place between top scorers in the Egyptian League with 14 goals.
Aboutrika's efforts with Ahly led to attention from the Egyptian national team, and he started the game against Trinidad and Tobago in a friendly match before the World Cup 2006 qualifiers on 31 March 2004 in Arab Contractors Stadium. The first starting game for Aboutrika ended 2–1 for the Egyptians. He started as an attacker, but was found to play better when he played his normal position behind the attackers in the attacking midfield position. Aboutrika scored his first national goal in this game. He scored 5 goals in his first 6 appearances with Egypt between 2004 and 2005.
