Hossam El Badry was on Thursday announced as head coach of the Egyptian national team following Egypt Football Federation (EFF) executive committee meeting which took place in Cairo.
He takes over from Javier Aguirre, who was fired in July after the Pharaohs’ defeat by South Africa on home soil in the last-16 of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Severally coaches were nominated for the job including Hassan Shehata, Hossam Hassan, Ahmed Hossam Mido, and Ehab Galal, but the choice fell on El Badry.
But very few people outside Egypt know who El Badry really is.
Ducor Sports briefly profiles the Pharaohs’ coach and takes a look at his playing and coaching careers over the years.
Early Life
Hossam El Badry was born in the Egyptian capital of Cairo 59 years ago.
He got interested in football game at a tender age and was registered with Al –Ahly Youth Academy when he was only ten years old.
Playing Career
El-Badry began his career at Al Ahly, a club that he joined its youth academy in 1970, before being promoted to the senior team eight years later.
Playing as a defender, El Badry made his debut for the first team in 1978/79 in a match against El-Olympi which Ahly won it 3–1.
His greatest achievement as an Al Ahly player was in 1981 season where he guided his team to the Egyptian Premier League title after tough competition with Ahly rival El-Zamalek.
With the Egyptian national team, El-Badry earned 18-caps and played in the Olympic qualifier in Moscow in 1980.
Unfortunately, an injury ended his football career after a cut in the cruciate ligament of the knee in 1984 and the period of treatment took more than a year and a half until he decided to retire in 1987.
Although El-Badry never got the chance to make it to the professional level, he was a skilled and accomplished player in his own right.
Coaching Career and Achievements
El-Badry began his managing career with Al Ahly as an assistant coach in 2005, a position that he resigned five years later after due to family problems.
After that Al Ahly called him again this time as head coach on a one-year-deal making him the first Egyptian manager to handle the club since 1983.
The Red Devils renewed El Badry’s contact as the club manager after he won the 2009-10 Egyptian Premier League season and the 2010 Super Cup.
However, he resigned on 21 November 2010 after a series of disappointing results. In December 2010 he was announced as the manager of Sudanese club El-Merreikh before heading back to Egypt for short stints as coach at ENPPI and then again at Al Ahly.
He spent a brief period in Libya with Al-Ahly Tripoli in 2013 and returned to Egypt to coach the country’s Under-23’s.
El Badry’s long association with Al Ahly continued in 2016 when he guided the team until his departure in 2018 when the club lost 2-0 to KCCA of Uganda in a CAF Champions League clash.
The experienced gaffer will be the first Egyptian to coach the national team since Shawky Gharib in 2014. Argentine Hector Cuper preceded Aguirre.
Additional information: Wikipedia
