[ad_1]
Portuguese Manuel Kagoda was Zamalek’s third coach in the 2005-2006 season after Theo Boker and Farouk Jaafar, but he achieved convincing results despite administrative problems.
FilGoal.com brings you a new part of the “Forgotten Foreigners” series, after interviewing many of the most prominent foreign players in the Egyptian league this past Ramadan, and this year we are interviewing several foreign coaches who worked in Egypt.
“Forgotten foreigners” because they are not Manuel José, Josefaldo Ferrera or Héctor Cuper, and yet they have left a trail that they deserve to remember, it may be a positive or negative impact, but it guarantees them to remain in the memory of the Egyptian League.
Kagoda began his mission with Zamalek when Morsi Atallah was the club’s acting president, and the season ended with Mortada Mansour in the chair.
Kagoda ended his first season with Zamalek taking second place in the league table and losing the Al-Ahly Egypt Cup final, to renew the management of Club Blanco’s trust in the Portuguese coach for a new season.
Things completely changed in the following season with the return of Mamdouh Abbas, and Kagoda left in December 2006 on Zamalek’s training after Al-Masry Al-Portsaidi defeated 2-0 in the league.
Filmed with Kagoda, FilGoal.com recalls his memories in the Egyptian League and why Zamalek’s awakening did not continue with him after the good results in the first season.
- What are you doing now in your training career?
I’m training the Lexuis team, a Portuguese second division club at the moment.
The club has a great history and is looking to rebuild itself to return to the Portuguese Premier League, and things have been going well since it took over last February.
Our goal is to return to the Premier League despite the fact that the results were not good before taking office, but I accepted the interesting new task due to the friendship that binds me to the club president.
- Going back to 2005, how did Zamalek contract with you?
This was at the invitation of an Arab representative named Jawad Salem, and the invitation convinced me and accepted the offer.
Even today, I am happy that I was one of the Zamalek coaches, despite all the difficulties I faced.
- Have you spoken to your compatriot Nilo Vingada, Zamalek’s former coach before accepting the offer?
Vingada is a very good friend of mine, but we didn’t speak before accepting Zamalek’s offer.
In any case, Vingada is a senior teacher and could not have spoken negatively about the club.
- What are the difficulties you faced?
There were a lot of problems, and I can say that it is the most problems I have had in a club I have worked with.
But there are always solutions to problems, and it was a good lesson for me because I learned a lot at Zamalek in dealing with such conditions.
- How did you solve these problems to achieve good results?
With humility, imagination, realism and intelligence, I knew nothing about the Arab world and had to learn and respect everything.
In Egypt, I found various cultures, different religions and beliefs, and a wonderful country and people.
Reality is always complex and requires us to use different methodologies, and I am a very realistic person and Zamalek is much more important than me, so I had to be realistic and humble and use intelligence with imagination.
- Did this help you accept the resignation of the Board of Directors?
This was the biggest problem, in 10 months the board changed 10 times.
Mortada Mansour comes, then Mortada Mansour comes out.
It was not normal to work in these circumstances, but this fact was in the club and we could not do better than we did.
- Was this the reason for the poor results in the second season?
I knew that it was impossible to work better in the conditions we had, I tried as much as possible with everything.
I knew the victim would always be me, but I fought and tried to improve everything to the last second at the club.
In the second season, the problems from his previous season continued and always increased, but he knew he was going to solve it and he just needed more time and I didn’t get it. She left and the problems continued to grow.
- You reached the final of the Egyptian Cup, but lost 3-0 to Al-Ahly. What happened in the match?
Nothing special happened. Al-Ahly had a great team and was not facing hundreds of problems that we face on a daily basis in Zamalek.
Al-Ahly’s truth on the field deserved to win, nothing more.
- How did you find cooperation with your assistants, Ahmed Ramzi and Issam Merhi?
Ramzi and Mari were very important to me, and I am still grateful to them because I learned through them the nature of Egyptian football.
I always remember Ramzi being an extraordinary man and a wonderful assistant, but with Marai I faced a problem.
We had two days off before the Egypt final, unlike Al-Ahly, who had one more day, and I wanted the team to train, and my decisions did not get the satisfaction of the players and Essam sided with from them. This is what the translator told me, so it was impossible for anyone to continue working with me in this way.
- The media talked about problems with the big players, did you interfere with your work?
I never felt it, although many people told me, but I never felt it.
I loved working with great players at Zamalek.
- What about Zamalek’s talents?
It was not easy to give talent a chance in such problems.
Zamalek had many talents, but the problems were much greater.
The club did not have a philosophy or a plan, the administration left and others came and it was impossible to do better.
- What is the difference between the Egyptian players and the players in the countries where you worked?
There are many things, the climate, the religion and the geographical situation are different and professionalism is very strict in Europe.
Egyptian players do not believe in the true value of professionalism, their technical skills are very high but they need to do their best.
I’m talking about diet, certain meals, appointments, and hours of sleep and hospitalization, and these are very important things.
I understand that these are different things in Egyptian culture and we must respect them, but we must work harder.
- Who is the best coach you played against in Egypt?
Easy question, Manuel José.
But I really liked the coach of the Egyptian team at the time, he was a very smart man. (Refers to Hassan Shehata)
- What are your best games?
All Zamalek’s matches are still very important to me.
- Who is the best player you trained?
Hazem Imam, one of the best players I have coached in my entire career.
I know he may not have loved me, but he was a player who possessed more than just talent, he was a wonderful gem.
My best weapon was to overcome all the problems that faced me, and as a coach you can only ask for more talent like him and this is what he was doing.
I am still a fan of his talent to this day, football with him has had a special taste.
- Finally, are you still following the Egyptian League?
Whenever you can, but it’s not always easy.
But what I am really sure of is that I must thank the people of Egypt for the kindness they have always treated me. I was proud to live among you.
How to protect yourself from the Corona virus … click Here
To know all those infected with the Coronavirus in the world of soccer and their conditions, click Here
Follow the effect of the Corona virus in local and international sporting events. Click here
Also read
Ahmed Ahmed clarifies the truth about his candidacy for a second term as Kav’s presidency
Committee Chairman: Tokyo Olympics will be canceled if not held in 2021
UEFA gives local federations a deadline of May 25 to present plans for a resumption of the season
Osama Hosni: Foreigners caused the crisis of the Egyptian attack … Mustafa Mohamed is a promising material, and that is the problem of Marwan
The Italian League sets the deadline for the resumption of matches and is awaiting government approval.
