CAIRO: Hossam Hassan has been named new Zamalek manager, the Cairo club said on Monday. The former Egypt captain was in talks with Zamalek for the last 24 hours after the sacking of French manager Henri Michel. The coaching staff hasn t been announced yet but Hossam s twin, Ibrahim, is expected to be appointed football director. Hassan is the team s third manager after just 10 games in the new season, following Michel and Swiss manager Michel Decastel, who was axed after three matches. Hassan, 43, was initially refused by the board to succeed Decastel because of lack of coaching credentials. As a player, Hassan had 170 international caps throughout 21 years, scoring 83 goals. Hassan won three African Cup of Nations titles in 1986, 1998 and 2006. He played for Ahly, Zamalek, Ittihad Alexandria, Masri and Tersana as well as joining Swiss side Neuchatel. Hassan played alongside several current Zamalek players such as Mido, Amr Zaki, Abdel-Wahed Al-Sayed and Hassan Mostafa either in the club or the national team. But Hassan has just a three-year experience as manager, coaching Masri for less then two seasons before moving to Telecom Egypt. He registered remarkable results with Masri but couldn t save Telecom Egypt from relegation and resigned halfway into their second-division campaign. Zamalek will play Harras Hodoud on Thursday before taking on Ahly in the Cairo derby on Dec. 8.
