Former Egypt’s assistant coach Ayman Abdelaziz has revealed that Rui Vitória was shocked by his sacking decision, bemoaning that the Portuguese coach was treated unfairly.
Rui Vitória was relieved of his duties by the EFA following Pharaoh's shambolic campaign at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Egypt failed to win a single match in the tournament and were eliminated in the round of 16 after losing a penalty shoot-out to DR Congo, which led to Vitória’s dismissal.
However, it looks like Vitória and his backroom staff believed they would remain in posts and were shocked by the EFA’s decision to sack them.
“Yes, I did not expect Vitória’s dismissal, especially as you are on the verge of the two most important matches in the World Cup qualifiers against Guinea and Burkina Faso,” Ayman Abdelaziz, the former assistant coach to Rui Vitória said.
“Vitória is shocked by his dismissal. In a country like Egypt, decisions are fast and emotional, and people follow the opinions of the street and social media. There is no justification for dismissing the coaching staff.
“Was Vitoria wronged? Of course, ask the players, all of them want him to come and coach their teams, even the players who didn’t participate.
“He is an irreplaceable coach, especially since his statistics are good. Certainly, our exit from the round of 16 is bad, but I haven’t seen this happening in Morocco or Senegal. Morocco is fourth in the world and exited from the round of 16.
“I had no doubt that we wouldn’t win the AFCON. The results before the tournament indicated that.
"We faced bad luck due to injuries, and the absence of the best football players in the world Mohamed Salah, Mohamed El-Shenawy, and Emam Ashour. We were surprised by the absence of 5 important players due to injury.
“Trezegeut’s temperature rose before the DR Congo match, and his replacement was Marmoush. However, the team doctor informed us that Marmoush would not participate because he was almost dying due to his high temperature.
“Emam Ashour requested to play against DR Congo, but we refused his participation out of concern for him.”
By: Pascal Amoah
