A considerable portion of Egypt fans believe that Hassan Shehata's success as the national team coach is more down to his own luck. No doubt that fortune is an essential aspect of any successful piece of work, but it is unfair to repeatedly consider it before giving any credit to the person. During Shehata's five-year reign as Egypt coach, the Zamalek legend guided the team to a number of unprecedented feats, signified by some crucial decisions. In the 2006 African Cup of Nations semi-final against Senegal, he brought on Amr Zaki for Mido, Egypt's main striker at the time, only for the former to score the winner minutes after his introduction. Since then, Zaki has developed to become one of the deadliest strikers in Africa. After Egypt clinched the 2006 title, (edging Ivory Coast on penalties), most of the pundits believed that the home advantage plus a bit of luck played a huge role, claiming that Shehata's men hardly faced a real challenge. However, two years later Egypt overwhelmed the Dark Continent with some slick displays in Ghana, capped by a memorable triumph at the expense of Cameroon. Then came the failure to reach the World Cup, which was certainly a massive blow for this generation of footballers and for the nation as a whole. But in my opinion, Shehata and Co. came through a very tough qualifying campaign, marginally losing the race to the resilient Algeria. Despite being hampered by a number of injuries to key players, Egypt managed to overcome their slow start and amassed 13 points, more than any team who made the World Cup, excluding Ivory Coast. This can be labeled as bad luck. The majority of Egyptians doubted Shehata's ability to reunite his team after the demoralizing World Cup blow, yet the CAN 2010 proves them wrong. Egypt still look like the strongest force in Africa, a fact demonstrated by impressive victories against World Cup finalists Nigeria and Cameroon. The astounding inclusion of Mohamed Nagi 'Geddo', an unknown Ittihad player before 2010, in Egypt's CAN roster has evidently proven to be a masterstroke by Shehata. It demonstrates the manager's creative vision in gradually reinforcing his squad, facing claims that this 'ageing' generation of players is running out of time. Regardless of what Egypt will finally achieve in Angola, reaching the last four three times in a row is anything but 'mere luck'.
