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Former Egypt striker Ahmed Hossam Mido has narrated his relationship with Koeman, while also revealing the one decision he regrets taking throughout his professional career.
Mido had argued that young kids should never abandon education in order to continue playing football, justifying that it affects the footballer in late stage of his life post-retirement.
The former Ajax striker opened up about his relationship with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their time together at the Dutch giants and disclosed few details about his character.
“Zlatan has always been the way he is, he never changed. I remember when we went to Ajax, they bought the both of us for big money. For example, when we kicked off games he was telling me ‘Mido, it’s showtime. Come on, let’s enjoy’. Some people take Zlatan wrong, they think he is arrogant but he is nicest guy you’ll ever meet,” Mido told Soccer AM.
“Koeman was a fantastic coach. It was his first job [at Ajax] though, he didn’t know how to handle us. He was very inexperienced. He wanted us, especially me, to act like any Dutch boy and this was impossible. When I was 17 I was already a big star in my country, I was playing for Egypt and had like 25 caps.”
“To be honest to him, Ronaldo Koeman was a great coach. He reads the game well, a lot of knowledge since he worked with Cruyff and played for Barcelona and Ajax. I took a bit from each coach, Martin Jol, Koeman and Spalletti.”
“Education is very important, I am in my last steps for acquiring my coaching badges. If you don’t have the right education as a coach you will not make it to the top level.”
The former Zamalek manager also spoke about a dream he aims to achieve in his coaching career and also how it felt when stepping down in England and living the action of Premier League football.
“My dream to coach Tottenham is not easy. I am not English but I am trying to do the right steps, having the right education and maybe try to be an assistant somewhere for two or three years. I had an offer to become assistant of Aguirre with Egypt but I don’t think it was right for me at the moment.”
“I could feel it is different football [in England] straight away. I had already played for Marseille, Roma and Celta Vigo, but once I came to England I felt football is different. The atmosphere is different, the tempo of the game is much higher. One of the worst decisions I made was to leave Tottenham. I wished I could stay more, but I knew if I stay and not play I will get into trouble.”
Mido heaped praise on former Tottenham and Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov, admitting that the Bulgarian hitman was superior to him.
“I was good but not as good as Berbatov. I played against him before Tottenham with Roma, he was just brilliant. I was a bit unlucky with injuries but I was also four-five years younger than Berbatov.”
“At the end of the [2006-2007] season I had lots of injuries and I was left out of the team a lot. I remember in the summer Daniel Levy [Tottenham chairman] asked me to stay but I was very convinced that Middlesbrough could be the right step for me, but I was wrong.”
The former Egypt international also cited his records with Egypt and why he couldn’t get more caps for the Pharaohs during his career.
“I could’ve played at least 100 games for Egypt but I had my famous fight with the coach [Hassan Shehata] in 2006. We had a big argument and then he decided to not call me for the national team. I played 50 games, with football sometimes you have to accept things. After that the manager won two Africa Cup of Nations, he had his own way of working and it worked for him.”
“I was unlucky with how things went with Egypt but I am very proud of the number of games and goals I achieved. One of the moments I will never forget was the first time I played for Egypt. I am proud till now that I am the youngest player to represent the Egyptian national team and the youngest to score a goal as well.”
