Rui Vitória ‘shocked’ after Egypt dismissal - Abdelaziz

Rui Vitoria, coach of Egypt during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt Press Conference at the Palais de la Culture in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on 13 January 2024 ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

by Thando Mpembe

Thursday Feb 08, 2024. 15:00

Former Pharaohs head coach Rui Vitória was shocked by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA)’s decision to fire him.

This is according to Ayman Abdelaziz who served as Vitória’s assistant as they oversaw the team during its disappointing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign.

Egypt, who were one of the pre-tournament favorites, were eliminated by DR Congo in the Round of 16 having failed to win a single match in the competition held in Ivory Coast.

The EFA has since fired Vitória and his technical team before appointing legendary Egyptian striker Hossam Hassan as the new head coach of the seven-time AFCON champions.

“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,” Abdelaziz said on King Fut. https://www.kingfut.com/2024/02/08/rui-vitoria-shocked-egypt-afcon/

“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,” he continued.

“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 player in the world Mohamed Salah, Mohamed El-Shenawy, and Emam Ashour. We were surprised by the absence of 5 important players due to injury,” he added.

“Trezegeut’s temperature rose before the DR Congo match, and his replacement was to be 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.”