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“I do not feel appreciated enough” This is the opinion of Essam El Hadary, the historical goalkeeper of the Egyptian team, who announced his final retirement on Wednesday and is heading to the training ground.
Al-Hadari, 47, lowered the curtain on a wonderful career in soccer stadiums, heading with Egypt winning the African Cup of Nations 4 times and participating in the 2018 World Cup to become the oldest player to participate in the World Cup.
FilGoal.com conducted an interview with Al-Hadari in which he discussed his decision, the reasons for choosing to withdraw, despite the fact that several clubs announced their desire to sign with him and their plan for his future.
- Why did you choose this time to announce your retirement?
I chose to advertise in this way and at this time because I liked to finish my great career, just as I was a great player throughout my career.
I wanted to close this issue after giving everything I had in the stadiums and with the clubs in which I played, in addition to Al-Ahly, with which I managed 38 tournaments.
I am grateful to my family and their support, which led me to reach this position.
I hope that my children raise their heads proud of their father, his history and his career that no other player has achieved with the Egyptian team or the clubs in which he played.
- Why didn’t you study your offers to play?
This is the right time to end my career with due respect for all offers.
Not because of my inability to give, but this is football.
And I decided to enter a new challenge, and during the last period, I had a period of rest, I traveled to foreign countries, I received training courses, I lived experiences and I saw a way of working different from ours.
- Have you decided to go directly to the field of training?
I think this is the right time to break into the field of training, especially after traveling to Germany, Turkey and Hong Kong and living some periods there.
I saw modern science in the field of goalkeeping training and people’s diligence in training and how they have become working with scientific thinking on all standards.
Even Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates work this way now, and I am saddened by our distance from them.
- What is the history of your candidacy to train the guards of the Egyptian team?
In fact, he was a candidate to work on the coaching staff of the Egyptian team, but the committee that assumed the direction of the Football Association made several decisions.
- What are your plans now?
I set a goal and a path and made a decision. I will only work for my country, teams outside Egypt or with large teams.
I believe that after all these experiences, tournaments and training courses, I have the right to achieve this goal.
Who are you to say that Urban works like us?
I mean those who did not play for the Egyptian team and did not win championships.
The whole world benefits from the big stars, as we see what is happening with Lampard and we doubt Chelsea and Conte at Juventus, and when Buffon retires, he will also work for Juventus.
These people value their stars and legends in order to benefit from them.
- Doesn’t urban feel appreciated enough?
Not just urban, many stars like Abu Trika, Wael Jumaa, Ahmed Hassan, Hussam Ghali, Imad Miteb and Hosni Abd Rabbo.
We are all stars who gave a lot to the Egyptian team and our clubs, and we didn’t get our chances.
What saddens us is the assumption of others who do not know how to achieve national peace and the value of the Egyptian team jersey.
- But these guys have more work experience, don’t you agree?
Don’t tell me testimonials, there are certified people who can’t throw a ball.
I spent time in Germany, Turkey and Hong Kong to prepare, I prepared myself, trained guards and worked for a time with various trainers.
See all of Africa, the Ghana goalkeeper in 2008 is the goalkeeping coach now and this also happens in Senegal, Cameroon, Algeria and most of the big teams.
And also Hamdi Al-Qasrawi was training the Tunisian team and Mustafa Al-Shazly in Morocco, all except Egypt.
Don’t we know why we miss the Egyptian team? We don’t seek compliments, but we do our best, not our relationships.
- Do you feel that your personality is the reason for your alienation?
A strong personality is not a defect, whoever has a strong personality has charisma and works for the interests of his country.
Your country has given you charisma and tournaments and you should keep it for the last day.
My relationship with everyone is good, but the work must be in the public interest.
- You talked about the arrival of a Moroccan Wydad show, how did it end?
I accepted an offer from Moroccan Wydad and they spoke through an agent who works with me.
But we did not reach an agreement, mainly because the future of the coaching staff was not clear.
- Have you received offers to coach teams in the Egyptian League?
I received offers from the Egyptian League, but everyone knows my goal and my path, I could have worked in Egypt to clear when Mido was in front of the team.
It is not an understatement of any club, but I am in a great position that I have to maintain.
- How do you rate the goalkeeper of the Egyptian team?
There is no concern about defending the Egyptian goalkeeper because we have 2 or 3 very good goalkeepers, and for me Mohamed El-Shennawy is number 1, then Muhammad Abu Jabal is coming after him, and I will include the third of them Jensh.
I am not with the coach who says that we have 10 distinguished goalkeepers and there is no crisis for the Egyptian team in that. Rather, it must be said that we do not have a goalkeeping crisis because we have 3 goalkeepers and not 9 and we must specify their names.
We could say that 10 goalkeepers have had a good season but a local player in the league should not be compared to a player who competes in the continental championships.
There is a difference between a local player and an international player. Give each player the right to be in their place.
- Finally, do you think there is an opportunity to work at Al-Ahly in the future?
Nothing is far from our Lord, everything is possible.
I have the certainty that I will achieve everything I plan.
