FilGoal | News | League clubs – Ceramics and the history of the “470 players”

Ceramica Cleopatra has been pursuing its greatest dream of qualifying for the Premier League for 14 years and now many believe that it will be the dark horse of the new season of the competition.

The title of the dark horse that adhered to Ceramica Cleopatra before the start of the league was not empty, but was due to its inclusion of 20 players during the transfer period.

And behind those 20 agreements, there were negotiations with 470 players.

Yes, the number is correct.

Meet all the teams of the Egyptian League 2020/2021 from here

So how did the story begin?

In 2006, Mohamed Abu El-Enein, owner of the club and the company, decided to create a football team and joined the Companies League.

The team topped the corporate league for the 2006-2007 season, according to the club’s official website, before deciding to join the Football Association to start from the fourth division.

“We started from the fourth division and now we are in the Premier League after a great job we have done,” said Moataz Al-Battawi, general supervisor of the ball at Cleopatra.

He continued: “We have been competing in Premier B for four years and we wanted to qualify directly, but we were getting better every season so we got fourth place, then third, then second, then first, and last season one point was which prevented us from classifying. “

He added: “Now our goal is not just to survive, but to become one of the main elements of the league in the coming years.”

Al-Battawi emphasized: “I used to be the first in my job and not fail, and this is what Muhammad Abu Al-Enein, Chairman of the Board of Directors, wants.”

The story of the 470 players

That ambition was behind the inclusion of the 20-player squad, but Al-Batawi revealed that 470 players had been offered to his club to join them during transfers.

A large number for sure.

“After we qualified for the Premier League, we were offered 470 players, and the manager, Haitham Shaaban, was the one who made his own decisions,” revealed the general supervisor of the ball at Ceramica Cleopatra.

He added: “There are some players we negotiated with, but their ambition was just a transfer to a new club, and not the ambition of a player who wants to make a difference for the club, so we did not complete the negotiations.”

“Our aim was to include players with great experience in the league, as well as the rest of the team that contributed to our promotion to the Premier League, such as Ashour Al-Adham and Shadi Hussein, the club’s historical goalscorer,” he added.

And he added, “I thank all the players who left us. It does not mean that they are not present now that they are not good.”

He continued: “Now we are waiting for our work to have a good result in the league.”

That great ambition of the Ceramica Cleopatra officials led to the inclusion of 20 players, including those who previously played for Al-Ahly and Zamalek, such as Saleh Jumaa and Muhammad Ibrahim.

Cleopatra’s agreements were as follows:

Mohamed Ibrahim, Ahmed Mohsen, Mohamed Tony, Mohamed Massad and Mido Jaber from Egypt for the Clearing House.

Rajab Bakar from Pyramids, Abd al-Rahman Bodi and Abdullah Mahmoud from Wadi Tigris and Ahmad Amin Ufa from Sharqah for Smoke.

And Mohamed Gamal, goalkeeper of the Arab Contractors, and Khaled Gamal is a famous Turkish player, Kwame Alfonso “Funcino”.

Saleh Jumaa after terminating his contract with Al-Ahly, Kwame Bonsu, player from Esperance, Mohamed Hassan from Zamalek, Al-Ghani Winfoul Kubina, Khaled Sobhi from El Gouna, Amer Amer from El Entag El Harby, and finally Saif Taqa and Maxwell Bakuh .

But despite all these agreements and the great change that the team witnessed, the management kept coach Haitham Shaban.

Haitham Shaban

Before discussing Haitham Shaaban’s career, the same question was posed: Why didn’t Cleopatra hire a new coach or foreign coach after all these deals? The answer was with Muhammad Abu Al-Enein.

“They offered us a lot of coaches, but Tariq Nagli, general supervisor of the club and Moataz Al-Battawi, did a good job, and they and I with them have a lot of confidence in Haitham Shaban,” Abul-Enein said at the press conference to present the new club agreements.

He added: “Haitham Shaaban relies on the trust placed in him, and he chose all the players himself. We strongly support him and I myself rejected his departure.”

Haitham Shaaban is a former player for the Police and Interior Union, who withdrew due to the injury he sustained and prevented him from continuing his career in 2003.

He worked as a coach in various youth teams such as Enppi and had previously coached his current player, Saleh Jumaa, as well as Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba”, the current Al-Ahly player.

He won the Republic Championship with Enppi twice, as well as the Petroleum Club youth team.

And he won the league championship with Dakhia and promoted them to excellent B, and also crowned the youth league with Saudi club Al-Hazm.

He worked with Hassan Shehata in Al-Mokawloon, Ramadan Al-Sayed and Ahmed Hassan in Petrojet, Talaat Youssef and Mohamed Youssef.

He took over the leadership of Ceramica Cleopatra the previous season and was just around the corner from ascension, but lost the race to the former Egyptian club and is now increasing by one point.

The management renewed confidence in him and led the team to the Premier League for the first time in its history.

Public opinion

FilGoal.com turned to its visitors to get their opinions on the Ceramica Cleopatra offers, which are expected in the new season.

Ahmed Hamdy said: “He will compete for eighth place.”

Michael Gerges said: “Ceramica will remain in the Premier League and will occupy at least 10th place.”

While Mohamed Taher Al-Sharif said: “Ceramica and the National Bank have concluded solid agreements and many clubs, but all this will not make a difference if the coach leaves after four or five weeks.”

Hossam agreed with him, who said: “The continuity and responsibility of the coach at the end of the season, not by piece.”

“How strong is the bench? If a player is injured or suspended, is there a substitute at the same level?” He asked.

Wait FilGoal.com

Looking at the list of highly experienced players, Ceramica will be ranked from fifth to tenth.