Egypt coach Bob Bradley revealed how he managed to motivate Ahmed Hegazi when the center-half was having a hard time at Fiorentina. Hegazi, who joined Fiorentina from Ismaili in the summer, has been warming the bench for 12 straight weeks but managed to score on his full debut in the Italian Cup this week. “Earlier this year I spoke with Hegazi. At first he wasn't playing much at Fiorentina and he was frustrated," Bradley said in an interview with Al-Hayat TV. “I said to him: stop! Because when you go to a club like Fiorentina, nothing will be given to you. “You must earn it every day. You must fight every day to show that you are a player who can play for them. You don't go there and expect that it's going to be easy. “So he played his first game in Coppa Italia and scored a goal. “That's' why you must go step-by-step. We must have players who are motivated in this way. “I think it's important to challenge our best young players to push to go to Europe."
More difficult Commenting on Egypt's next competitive game against Zimbabwe, Bradley believes that the recent unrest that hit his opponents doesn't make his team's task any easier. The Zimbabwe team were disbanded this month in the wake of an infamous match-fixing saga that saw head coach Rahman Gumbo replaced by German Klaus-Dieter Pagels. “There has been some difficulty for the Zimbabwean federation," Bradley added. “They are now using younger players, so this makes our job a little more difficult. “Because some of the players who were at their previous games (that we followed) won't play anymore! But nonetheless we are well-prepared for the game." Egypt host Zimbabwe on March 22 before meeting the Warriors in Harare next June.
