Hossam Hassan, the current coach of Alexandria-based club Smouha and Egypt's all-time leading scorer, says he was approached by Senegal to become their coach. Speaking after Smouha lost 1-0 to leaders Zamalek in the Egyptian league on Wednesday, Hassan said the head of Senegal's football association expressed an interest in appointing him as the team's coach. "I won't leave unless [Smouha chairman] Farag Amer agrees," he told a news conference without revealing further details. Aliou Cisse, a member of Senegal's 2002 World Cup side that reached the quarter-finals, has been in charge of the Teranga Lions since March 2015. Under his guidance, they reached the African Nations Cup quarters in 2017 and failed to get beyond the group stage at last year's World Cup in Russia. Hassan is widely considered as one of Egypt's best-ever players, although he has had little success in his 11-year managerial career. But despite failing to win any titles, especially during two spells with Cairo giants Zamalek, the 52-year-old was widely acclaimed for turning around the fortunes of Port Said-based club Masry in recent years. He turned them into a top-four outfit and led them to a place in the CAF Confederation Cup semis last season, before leaving to take charge of the big-spending Pyramids FC last October. However, he was dismissed in January after a string of disappointing results, becoming the manager of Smouha less than a month later. Smouha, who are second from bottom in the league table, lost their first four matches under Hassan. Senegal will play at the summer Nations Cup, which will take place in Egypt in June and July. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
