Exclusive interview: The coach behind Salah’s and Elneny’s emergence

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Thu, 24 Aug 2017 - 08:04 GMT

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Thu, 24 Aug 2017 - 08:04 GMT

Hamze El Gamal – Egypt Today

Hamze El Gamal – Egypt Today

24 August 2017: Everyone knows the coach of Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Elneny, now that they have become big stars of two of England’s finest teams. But only a few know the man behind the decision of giving them a spot in Egypt’s first division when they were mere young talents.

The coach of Arab Contractors, Hamza El Gamal, decided to promote Elneny and Salah from the youth team to the first team when they were just 18, giving them the first opportunity to show the world what they are made of.

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Mohamed Salah - Egypt Today

“Despite their young age, they were very talented players with great technical and tactical skills. But what they most stood out at was their personality and their way of thinking,” El Gamal told Egypt Today, who is a former Egyptian player. He spent most of his career playing for Ismaily and represented the Egyptian national football team in the 1994 African Cup of Nations.

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Elneny - Egypt Today

Predicting a promising future for Salah and Elneny early on, El Gamal said, “I expected they would become successful when they were young, and I told them they will be the best players in Egypt. I remember telling them they will have great football careers if they continued honing their skills.”

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Elneny- Reuters

In an Interview with Arsenal’s official website, Elneny praised El Gamal, saying that he is the only coach that predicted his success in Europe and encouraged him to leave Egypt to play in Switzerland.

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Elneny- Reuters

Asked about both players’ attitude inside the dressing room, El Gamal said, “both of them are very nice. They are so quiet off the pitch, but on the field, they are so fervent and energetic, which is why they are both very successful in their careers. For example, Mohamed Elneny was criticized numerous times from both players and the media alike, but he never lost his temper. Both of them are great ambassadors for Egyptian football.”

We talked with El Gamal about Salah’s best position on the pitch, to which he replied, “Salah needs space to show his best, so I prefer to see him playing behind the strikers or in the wings.”

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Mohamed Salah- Reuters

El Gamal spoke about the only thing that Salah needs to be an exceptional player: “[he] needs to work on his final touch to be able to score more goals. I think he will be a phenomenal player if he scored more goals.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger used Mohamed Elneny in a new position. He played him at the heart of Arsenal’s defense during the team’s pre-season games. When we asked El Gamal about Elneny’s ability to play in this position, he said, “Elneny is an adroit player; I am certain he can play in this position, but he needs more time and experience to adapt to it. Eventually, I think he will fit in well in this position.”

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Elneny- Reuters

Asked about Salah and Elneny’s future, El Gamal said, “it all depends on their accommodation with their teams; I hope they have a good season free of injuries. No one can say with certainty what will happen in the future, but if they continued on this curve, I expect a brighter future awaits them.”

El Gamal is an expert in Egyptian football. We asked him about the situation of Egyptian football in general and of the Egyptian national team’s chances of qualifying to the World Cup. “Our national team needs massive support from the Egyptian Football Federation, from the media and from the fans to attain the World Cup dream,” he replied.

El Gamal added, “the Egyptian Football Federation must provide the national team with the optimum atmosphere to be able to win the remaining games in the World Cup qualifiers.”

Salah and Elneny are the epitomes of success to many youth in Egypt, and El Gamal thinks that many of the country’s youth are like Salah and Elneny, “but no one is searching for and supporting talents like these to give them the opportunity to show themselves,”he said.

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Mohamed Salah- Reuters

Salah and Elneny are making history in England. They are leading the Egyptian squad in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, and they are making Egyptians, including El Gamal, proud in every Premier League fixture.

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