Ricardo: I remember my play-off match against Al-Ahly

Brazilian Ricardo, former Ismaili coach, confirmed that he still remembers the playoff game he played against Al-Ahly to determine the Egyptian league champion for the 2008-09 season, indicating a refusal to coach Zamalek during that time. .

Ricardo said in remarks to “Ontime Sports 2”: “Ismaili has a special place. I lived happy moments there and I love Egypt very much, not only Ismaili. The Egyptian people are exceptional and beautiful and they thank them.”

He added: “I remember the playoff game against Al-Ahly in 2009. I would have liked to have won the title after matching Al-Ahly with the number of points, and in the last week it was possible to win the title, but we finished second in the end”.

He continued: “Al-Ismaili was not awarded a goal or a penalty during that playoff game, and the loss of the league was due to what happened in Al-Ahly’s game against the Vanguard Army during the last round of the competition”.

He continued: “Ismaili was a strong group of players, we used to include the best in all centers, led by Abdullah Al-Saeed (now a Pyramid player) who is a distinguished and enthusiastic star, and this has been demonstrated in recent years. “

He continued: “Yes, I was hoping that Abdullah Al-Saeed would be successful in the future. He is a difficult player to confuse on the field. He was very precise.”

He emphasized: “I did not follow Ismaili closely during the recent period, but it is a great club and it has great potential. It has a distinguished soccer school that always surpasses the older players, but they go to Al-Ahly and Zamalek” .

He revealed: “Zamalek offered me his leadership when I was an Ismaili coach, but I didn’t think about myself, Zamalek is a great club and encourages any coach to work with him, but I decided to continue until I crowned the league where there was strong competition “

He concluded: “When the competition ended, I heard about Al-Ahly’s interest in hiring me through the press, but did not receive an official offer. Manuel José was a distinguished coach who crowned many titles with Al-Ahly and included a wonderful generation directed by Muhammad Abu Trika. “