The Egyptian national football team has a new coach. He is the Portuguese Rui Vitoria, former coach of Benfica Lisbon. The announcement of the signing of the final agreement with the Portuguese was made on Tuesday 12 July 2022 by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA).
Rui Vitoria, a Portuguese-born former coach of Benfica Lisbon, is the man appointed to restore the reputation of Egyptian football. His appointment comes after the dismissal in June of Ehab Galal for poor performance. The latter had taken over as head of the national team only three months ago and had succeeded the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, who was also sacked after the Pharaohs’ bad adventure in the CAN2021 final against Senegal.
Rui Vitoria’s career and achievements
A former midfielder with the Portuguese national team, the 52-year-old spent four seasons (2015-2019) in charge of Benfica Lisbon. With this team, he won three Portuguese championship titles (2016, 2017, 2019). From 2019 to 2020, Rui Vitoria moved to Saudi Arabia where he took charge of the A-Nassr team. There he was successful in winning the league in 2019 and the Saudi Arabian Supercup in 2020. In 2021, the Portuguese signed for Spartak Moscow before his contract was finally terminated after six months.
Egypt, determined to bounce back on the roof of Africa.
Egypt, determined to bounce back on the roof of Africa. After unsuccessful attempts, Egyptian football officials turned to Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria. For them, he is the right man for the job. With more than 15 years as a coach and especially his rich experience at Benfica, he will be able to take up this challenge which is very dear to Egypt.
Qatar 2022 World Cup, a broken dream for the Pharaohs.
Egypt is one of the major African nations that will be absent from the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. They lost their qualifying ticket after once again bowing to their eternal rivals and CAN2021 holders Senegal in March. Egypt is still struggling. The Pharaohs also lost to Ethiopia (2-0) as part of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The right diagnoses must be made to ensure that Egypt, which had made the continent dream so much, does not remain off course.
