The American coach is committed to his job with the Pharaohs despite continuing difficulties
Despite Monday’s decision to postpone the start of the Egyptian Premier League season, Egypt coach Bob Bradley is sticking with his mission to prepare the Pharaohs.
The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) decided Monday to delay the Egyptian Premier League season indefinitely because they had not yet received security guarantees from the ministry of interior.
All football activities have been frozen in the country since the Port Said case on 1 February, when over 70 Ahly fans died after clashes with rivals Masry. The events had a negative effect on the national team preparations for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
The team, which won three successive African Cup of Nations trophies (2006, 2008 and 2010), faced many difficulties in holding their training camps recently due to sponsoring issues.
“Despite the recent difficulties, I am sticking with my job, especially as the players are committed and enthusiastic and they really are getting better,” Bradley said Monday in a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s friendly match with Tunisia at the team’s current training camp at UAE.
“If the Egyptian league doesn't return it will not be good for us, but I have other solutions for that problem.
“We will depend on long-term camps and we will try to arrange a sufficient number of friendly matches,” he added.
The Pharaohs played their first friendly at the UAE’s camp on Friday when they defeated Congo 3-0.
The former USA coach will be seeking another success against Tunisia and it seems he intends to depend on some new faces like UAE's Al-Wasl forward Mahmoud
'Shikabala’ Abdel-Razek and Fiorentina defender Ahmed Hegazy, who hasn't yet made his debut with the Italian club.
“Shikabala played 90 minutes with his team two nights ago, so I opted to give him a rest against Congo. He will play from the start against Tunisia,” explained Bradley.
“Hegazy is an excellent player, even if he is not totally fit,” concluded the head coach.
Egypt will not play any competitive games until March of next year when they host Zimbabwe in a World Cup qualifier.
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