By: Ahmad Saied Egypt's most successful professional footballer and current ENPPI manager Hany Ramzy said he hopes his adventure with the Egyptian Premier League side paves the road for more young coaches to be given the first man role. The job fell into Ramzy's lap when he was promoted from an assistant coach to take over as the boss following the sacking of German manager Rainer Zobel. "I hope to impress as ENPPI manager, not only to lift the team from the ongoing crisis but also to change some wrong concepts in the Egyptian football," Ramzy said. "Egyptians think that a coach should be 50 or 60 years old to fit in the boss position, which is not true," the 38-year-old former defender told FilGoal.com in an exclusive interview. By recruiting Ramzy, ENPPI became the first Egyptian side to follow the new trend in Europe and Latin America where clubs and national teams opt to hire young managers with high profile playing-career. Five-time World champions Brazil appointed 42-year-old Dunga as manager after their 2006 flop in Germany despite the fact that the former Samba captain has never worked in coaching before. Dutchman Frank Rijkaard, 45, has won two Spanish League titles and a UEFA Champions League trophy for Barcelona in just two-and-half year spell. Rijkaard's compatriot Marco van Basten led Holland as manager in the 2006 World Cup while he was just 41. Glittering Career And if an Egyptian ex-footballer was to take the lead, no candidate would fit better than Ramzy. After the 1990 World Cup, Ramzy left local giants Ahli for Swiss side Neuchatel where he played for four seasons before moving on to Werder Bremen.
He almost won the Bundesliga with Bremen in 1997 but his team fell behind in the last stage of the tournament. In 98, he switched sides to join Kaiserslautern, where he played till 2005, featuring in130 games and scoring 12 goals. "I believe that a 15-year career at the top level in Europe has given me experience and skills that were not available for any other Egyptian footballer," he said. "What I am planning to do now is to pass on all what I have learnt and experienced in Europe to ENPPI players." But worries have been raised that Ramzy's age may not allow him to force the lacked discipline within the club. Ramzy confidently refuted this claim. "The first thing to be done is to establish a professional system that rewards the committed individuals and punishes the troublemakers," he said. "This system will be the foundation of a new era at the club where nobody will be above the rules and this has nothing to do with relationships between players and the coaching staff. "But after all, when a manager respects his players, they respect him back despite any disputes that might erupt." Earlier in January, Ramzy was placed 19th in an online poll conducted by the CAF official website to choose Africa's best footballer over the past 50 years. He was the fourth Egyptian following Mahmoud Al-Khatib, Hossam Hassan and Saleh Selim and came ahead of national team manager Hassan Shehata. When informed of the result, Ramzy's comment revealed his ambitious side as well as his proud one. "It is a big honor to be in the first 20 names of the continent's best players but I wish in ten years time I can make the list of Africa's best managers," he said.
