"He is a religious, decent and respectable human being who rarely makes mistakes," Emam told FilGoal.com in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

Emam tipped Khashaba to succeed in any field he chooses to pursue after hanging his boots.

"Whether he becomes a coach or takes on an administrative role he will be very successful because of all the good qualities he has," he said.

Emam recalled the days when he had to face Khashaba in the Ahli-Zamalek Cairo derby.

"He was an excellent player," Emam said.

"He usually gave me a hard time when we played against each other, yet I couldn’t complain because he was only doing his job," Emam said jokingly.

Despite their friendship, Emam said he will not be able to attend the testimonial of his Egyptian national teammate.

"I regret missing the game," he said. "But my hands are tied because Zamalek has a scheduled training session at the time of the match."

The 34-year-old Khashaba played for Ahli's first team since 1991, bagging more than 400 games in all competitions.