Egyptian national team goalkeeping coach Essam El-Hadary explained the reasons behind adapting a defensive playstyle.
El-Hadary joined the national team coaching staff back in September of 2021 when Carlos Queiroz took charge as head coach.
Since then, many have praised Essam for his role with the team, especially after El-Shennawy and Abu-Gabal heroic saves in the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers.
As a result, he’s reportedly joining the new national team coaching staff with head coach Ehab Galal.
In a statement he made to a TV channel, El-Hadary spoke about his time with the national team while defending the defensive playstyle they adapted.
“In 6 months we played 21 games, most of them against strong teams across the Arab Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, and World Cup qualifiers,” El-Hadary said.
“We won against Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Cameroon. We even came close to beating Senegal after playing four 120-minute games.
“If we adapted attacking playstyle and lost, people wouldn’t be happy about it. We played defensively because it was more fitting and we wanted to win.”
Essam then talked about Mohamed Salah, addressing the poor treatment he received in Senegal and the strong criticism he received after the game.
“Salah is respected and loved everywhere, what happened to him in Senegal was inappropriate. He did his best during the game and he was the saddest after the defeat,” El-Hadary said.
“During the warm-up for the Senegal game, I couldn’t even look up to kick the ball due to laser use.”
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