Hassan played a key role in Egypt’s previous World Cup qualification in 1990, scoring the decisive goal against Algeria that sent the Pharaohs to the tournament in Italy.
Now, 36 years later, he has led the team to their fourth appearance on the global stage as head coach.
“It is a great honor to reach the World Cup as both a player and a coach,” Hassan told MBC Masr 2 on Sunday.
Egypt confirmed their qualification with a 3-0 win over Djibouti last week, and marked the achievement with a 1-0 victory over Guinea Bissau at Cairo Stadium in front of a packed home crowd on Sunday.
“We did a great job during the qualifiers because we have great players,” Hassan said.
“I asked the players to win against Guinea Bissau to make the fans who came to celebrate happy.”
Hassan praised Guinea Bissau as a “good team with many players based in Europe,” and acknowledged the growing competitiveness across African football.
The 59-year-old also spoke warmly about his relationship with star forward Mohamed Salah, calling the Liverpool striker both his “younger brother” and “eldest son”.
“Salah is a glory for Egypt. He is a great player — intelligent and very professional,” Hassan said.
Egypt will now turn their attention to the Africa Cup of Nations, which will be held in Morocco in December.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Short link: