Musimane: I needed to verify Al-Ahly’s call

South African Al-Ahly coach Betsu Musimane spoke about his training for the red team, stating that he did not know it would be achieved that fast, but knew he would catch up.

Musimani said, in a taped interview with “Your Excellency” broadcast on “DMC” on Monday: “To be frank, I did not imagine that I would be an artistic director for my family so quickly during the famous take of my portrayal of fans of the Al-Ahly “.

He added: “I was not expecting that, but at the same time, because I played Egyptian, Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian teams, I knew my path would end here with the Al-Ahly club.”

He continued: “All thanks to Mahmoud Al-Khatib, President of the Al-Ahly Club, for his trust in me.”

He explained: “Al-Khatib has a vision for the future and believes that it is possible for an African coach to lead Al-Ahly to win the African Champions League title for the first time after an absence of 7 years.”

Musimani revealed the scenes of his negotiations with Al-Ahly, saying: “I started with a phone call, and we did not verify it at first, as I used to receive calls from Egypt to train Zamalek, but I did not know the origin of that.”

He continued: “I needed to verify the call from Al-Ahly, and after making sure it was authentic, my business manager was the one who took over the negotiations and spoke on video with the Al-Ahly representative, and Amir Tawfiq was the one who negotiated with me after getting permission from the club president.

He stressed: “The negotiations were easy and I knew Al-Ahly well because I played against him more than once and I won him.”

He continued: “Al-Ahly wanted the right coach to guide them through that transitional stage and achieve the Champions League title that was missing 7 years ago, and I had the full support of Mahmoud Al-Khatib and the board of directors, and I do not complain about anything”.

He continued: “I didn’t change anything in the way Al-Ahly played and the organization was the same. I just put the players in their proper positions and changed some things in the way they played and the psychological state against Africa because this team he is the league champion and therefore considers himself strong. “

He revealed: “I watched the last 3 Al-Ahly games while on the plane to Egypt, where I had a match two days later. There are no justifications or excuses, and the players were surprised that I knew everything about them.” .

He concluded: “I certainly didn’t sleep well, because I coach Al-Ahly and we want the championships. I also learned that, with the exception of Manuel José, the coaches did not last long, but I come from an environment used to titles and I know very well those circumstances. “