Egypt's head coach Bob Bradley of the U.S. (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt’s new American coach Bob Bradley has said the Brazil friendly was a useful experience despite the under par performance and international reports describing the 2-0 defeat as a “failure.”
“This is my first test with the Egyptian national team and it made many things clear to me because facing Brazil shows you a lot,” Bradley said after the match.
The Egyptian FA, under the leadership of Chairman Samir Zaher, appointed the former United States manager in September, preferring him to many other international candidates to succeed the country’s most successful coach Hassan Shehata, who guided the Pharaohs to three successive African Cup of Nations titles but failed to qualify for the fourth.
“It was a good opportunity to meet all the players and to see them training,” the 53-year old manager added.
Bradley spent two month monitoring the domestic competitions to select his squad. A star-less Brazil won comfortably thanks to Valencia striker Jonas’s two goals after 39 and 59 minutes. A second friendly between the two teams is scheduled for February.
Bradley defends his choices, praises the crowd
Bradley admired the performances of Borussia Dortmund striker Mohamed Zidan and Sunderland winger Ahmed Elmohamady even though they didn’t really delivered what was expected.
He said he didn’t pay much attention to the media pressure he faced for sidelining the Pharaohs’ beloved midfielder, Mohamed Abou-Trieka.
“These things are normal and it doesn’t concern me much,” the former Chicago Fire and MetroStars coach claimed.
Regarding dropping the veteran goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, who warmed the bench for the young Masry goalkeeper Ahmed El-Shennawy, Bradley explained it was not a surprise as the 20-year was more ready.
Bradley, who left his post with the US national side last July after leading it to 43 wins, 25 losses and 12 draws in just over four years, receives 30,000 euros per month excluding the taxes (7000).
“The Egyptian crowds have been amazing since we arrived and this shows the importance of football for them. This experience was so special and I am sure the players made the best use of it,” he concluded.
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