Actually, it is a late decision! I was nominated for the post back in 2005 but the Egyptian FA opted at that time to appoint Hassan Shehata instead as I agreed to assume the second-man role with him. Even after Shehata parted ways in 2011, I was expecting to take his position but then I was surprised to see myself ruled out. I thought that was not logical for me.

What about the rumors that your friend FIFA executive member Hani Abou-Rida used his authority to influence the decision of hiring you?

Of course when someone of the caliber of Abou-Rida – one of FIFA’s senior officials – nominates me for the job, it’s something that makes me proud, but do people really think it’s only because my good relationship with him? You just need to take a look at my history to guess the answer. I guided Egypt’s youth team to the World Cup Bronze medal plus contributing to three consecutive CAN titles with the senior side.

So in your opinion, what’s the reason behind such claims?

I really don’t know nor even could understand why! Let’s take Ahli as an example. Manuel Jose managed the team to major feats then his assistant Hossam Al-Badri replaced him to follow suit, then the latter’s associate Mohamed Youssef emulated Al-Badri’s successes after taking his post. That’s exactly what the national team needs, that’s why I believe I should have been recruited manager right after Shehata’s departure.

And how do you see Bob Bradley’s stint with Egypt?

Bradley added to the national team and tried as much as possible alongside his assistants to accomplish the World Cup dream, and by the way, I’m going to start from where he finished; I will not start a wholly new approach from scratch just for people to say that I’m ‘different’.

Some are calling for injecting new blood and introducing a totally different team…How do you see it?

No, it’s not going to be exactly that way. It will be according to the players’ performance on the pitch regardless of their age, but of course there are those who could no longer deliver as they did in their young age…that’s quite normal.

What’s going to be your strategy regarding the foreign-based Egyptians, how would you be relying on them?

I’m looking forward to including more foreign-based players; they would prove a handful in the upcoming period.

What’s your opinion about Mohamed Salah’s current performance with Basel?

Salah is an exemplary professional. He excels with his own club and replicates his performance with the national side. That’s quite proven by the number of goals he scored in the World Cup qualifiers to top the scoring charts. He’s exactly like Amr Zaki and Mohamed Zidan who were impressing with both their respective foreign clubs and Egypt.

What about the lack of domestic football in Egypt?

I’ll be pushing forward to bring back the league, that’s a priority for me. You can’t rely only on Champions League games as a means to prepare your local players and also you don’t have enough players abroad to fully depend on them.