Everything was moving smoothly with the famed Ahli football team. They had just reached the group stage of the African Champions League and were comfortably leading their group in the local league. But without warning, in a post-match press conference after Ahli defeated Benzerty of Tunisia, Hossam Al-Badri, Ahli's coach, surprised all by announcing he had signed for the Libyan club Al-Ahli Tripoli for one year. Al-Badri attributed his decision due to the imminent change of the Ahli board members, which will take place according to a new sports law. Al- Badri said he was not sure he will be able to deal with the new board and how will they deal with him. He also said the financial situation of almost all Egyptian clubs are passing through would not allow him to add new faces to the football team. Thirdly, the money offered by Ahli Tripoli's contract had to be considered. Reports say that Al-Badri will receive $100,000 a month compared to the LE250,000 he was getting fom Ahli. Ahli officials were angered by Al-Badri's departure, saying they had always backed him and all his requests were met. Hadi Khashaba, the club's soccer director, said Ahli is a “big club with a big team that will never stop because of one coach or another”. It was not the first time Al-Badri leaves Ahli. Badri, who took over from the Portuguese Manuel Jose, resigned three years ago when Ahli were beaten by Ismaili in a local fixture 3-1. He returned to replace Jose in 2012. Mohamed Youssef, who worked as assistant coach, replaced Al-Badri. Ahli players were happy with the decision, seeing that they are used to Youssef as a former player and current coach. Youssef himself announced that he was capable of leading the team in the coming period, calling himself an experienced player and coach. To those who do not know Youssef, he was born on 9 October 1970. He started playing football as a left back and centre back. He played in Ahli, Denizlispor, Diyarbakirspor (Turkey) and ENPPI. He helped Ahli win six Egyptian league titles, one cup title, one African Cup Winners' Cup, one Arab Champions League and one Arab Cup Winners' Cup titles as a player. Youssef was a member of Ahli's golden generation of the 1990s, helping the Red Devils winning six historic consecutive league titles between 1993 and 1999. His first international appearance was under coach Mahmoud Al-Gohari against South Korea in the friendly President's Cup in Seoul June 1993.Youssef took part in the 1994 and 1998 Nations Cup. He was also part of the African 2000 squad but did not feature in Ghana/Nigeria. He was on the Egyptian squad that clinched the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations title in Burkina Faso, playing three games in the group stage. Youssef's memorable goal was scored against Zamalek in a 3-0 league victory in 1993. He also played every match of Egypt's FIFA Confederations Cup campaign in Mexico 1999. He was Egypt's captain at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Youssef worked as an assistant manager with three Ahli coaches since Al-Badri's first takeover in 2009. He is also one of the first three Egyptians to play in Turkey, having joined Super Lig side Denizlispor in 1999.
