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Hector Cuper Named Egypt National Team Coach

Hector Cuper Named Egypt National Team Coach

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) have announced that Argentine Hector Cuper will take over as coach of the Egypt national team.

Previous coach Shawky Gharib was fired when he failed to qualify the Pharaohs for to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), leading to the country being without a coach until now.

Cuper is now ready to fill the void that was left by Gharib’s departure, and focus on the upcoming objectives for the national team, which include FIFA World Cup qualifiers in October, and the 2017 Nations Cup qualifying campaign, which begins in June this year.

The EFA announced the new hire on their official website, saying, “The Board of Management of the Egyptian Football Association officially announced at a meeting today under the chairmanship of Mr. Gamal Alam the appointment of Argentine Hector Cuper as coach of the national first team.”

The EFA revealed that Cuper will be able to choose two assistants to join him on the Egyptian technical team, along with local personalities Osama Nabih (Assistant coach), Ahmed Naji (Goalkeepers trainer) and Dr Magdy Abdel Aziz (Team Doctor).

The Egyptian FA was considering at a shortlist of candidates which included Herve Renard, Georges Leekens, Uli Stielike, Alain Giresse and Frank Rijkaard, but the final decision was in favour of Cuper.

The Argentine does not possess any experience coaching in Africa, with a term in charge of Georgia being the only national team exposure that he has had thus far.

In terms of club coaching, Cuper is fairly experienced, having managed the likes of Real Mallorca, Real Betis and Racing Santander in Spain, Inter Milan and Parma in Italy, Orduspor of Turkey, and his most recent stint with United Arab Emirates outfit, Al Wasl early in 2014.