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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Hire and fire
Abeer Anwar
He has at once been hailed a national hero and branded a national catastrophe. But whatever epithets are bandied about Mahmoud El-Gohari, no one can deny his resilience. The irrepressible three-time ex-coach of the national football team is suddenly no longer history. At a hasty meeting of the Egyptian Football Federation (EFF) on Saturday, El-Gohari was reinstated in the job that seems stuck to him like glue. He replaced Frenchman Gerard Gili, who was fired after only 75 days on the job and after an early exit from the African Cup of Nations (ACN) last month.
"I'm very happy to take over again because I am sure that an Egyptian is best suited to lead the team," El-Gohari said at a press conference a day after he was hired. "Every coach and every team has ups and downs, but fans and experts have to keep in mind that life goes on."
The on-again-off-again coach
photo: Hossam Diab
El-Gohari knows just about better than anybody else the "ups and downs" of the pressure cooker job that is Egypt's football coach. His debut in the post came in 1988 at the start of a two-year stint which saw Egypt qualify for the 1990 World Cup following a more than 50-year hiatus. Egypt did fairly well, managing to draw 1-1 with then European champions Holland in the opener. It also played to a scoreless draw with Ireland and narrowly lost 1-0 to England. But it was a friendly with Greece shortly thereafter, in which Egypt was thrashed 6-1, which proved to be El-Gohari's undoing. He was duly fired but was re-hired in 1991. A year later he led the squad to the Arab Nations Cup played in Syria after Egypt beat Saudi Arabia 3-2 in the final. But that same year, again the curtain fell on El-Gohari when Egypt finished in 12th place in the ACN championship in Zambia. He resurfaced in 1997, just in time for a crucial World Cup qualifying match against Liberia which Egypt lost, effectively putting it out of the running.
But El-Gohari made amends in a big way when in 1998 he steered the team to victory in the ACN championship played in Burkina Faso.
Several friendly games were played thereafter, with mediocre results spliced in between memorable victories against Belgium and Bulgaria.
Disaster struck in the summer of 1999 in the Confederations Cup in Mexico when Egypt was crushed 5-1 by Saudi Arabia. Although Egypt was undermanned after three players were shown the red card, the loss was devastating and led to the resignation of not only El-Gohari but the football federation as well.
Amazingly, only eight months following that colossal debacle, El-Gohari is back at the helm, testimony to his nine-lives history. How he does it, few people know. Certainly El-Gohari is not telling, preferring instead to deal with the task at hand. At the press conference, he set Egypt's entry into the 2002 World Cup has his priority but added it would not be easy, especially since the African qualifying format allows for only five groups to enter. "It gives the team no second chance," El-Gohari said.
He made it clear that time was short since a World Cup qualifier against Mauritius is scheduled for next month. "We have to work quickly in the coming stage and lay stress on short training drills."
He said preparations would include training sessions before and after the Mauritius encounter, which is composed of two legs, followed by a friendly with an as yet unnamed country on 27 May, after which will come two more qualifying World Cup matches on 4 and 17 June with countries yet to be determined.
El-Gohari said the team would remain basically the same, although he would be keeping an eye on several junior players, including Olympic team members Ramy Said and Hani Said.
El-Gohari did create a new-look team of assistants. Mohamed Abu El-Ezz, a former Tirsana defender and Alaa Abdel-Aziz, become first and second assistants. Fekri Saleh will train the goalkeepers, Samir Adli is head administrator and Ahmed Maged is the team's doctor. They were all hand-picked by El-Gohari, a condition he put to the EFF shortly before he was hired.
El-Gohari's coaching career has not been confined to the national squad. He has coached Ahli and Zamalek, in addition to Wahdat and Sharqa of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia's Ahli and Jeddah clubs and the Omani national team,
His Egyptian international record includes 141 matches played -- 71 won, 26 lost and 44 drawn. He will be paid LE45,000 a month in his new job, far below the $35,000 his predecessor was making. Still it is a handsome salary for someone who up until last week was unemployed.
