Gamal Abdel Hamid: Salah deserves special treatment, and Hossam erred 70 times but luck saved him

Gamal Abdel Hamid, the former Zamalek and Egypt star, opened fire on a number of issues concerning the national team. He aimed sharp criticism at the handling of captain Mohamed Salah, and at the way head coach Hossam Hassan manages certain matters and deals with the media.

Speaking on the programme "El Defender", broadcast on Al-Shams channel, Abdel Hamid insisted that Salah holds an exceptional standing on the global stage. "Mohamed Salah is a global icon and deserves special treatment, and it is not acceptable to say that he was left out for technical reasons," he said.

Statements that downplay the captain's importance drew his ire too. "It is not acceptable for Hossam Hassan to say about Mohamed Salah that we have 120 million people and that the Egypt national team does not depend on any single individual," he added.

Turning to Hassan himself, Abdel Hamid said: "Hossam Hassan is fortunate when it comes to football and technical matters, but he is not fortunate when it comes to talking."

The coach, he argued, should have been more cautious with his statements after the World Cup. "Hossam should have made use of the World Cup achievement by keeping control of his statements, and he should have given the players their due at the World Cup rather than talking about himself," he said.

His sharpest jab landed next. "Hossam Hassan made 70 mistakes and luck served him, and had it not been for Ibrahim Hassan, Hossam would have made even more mistakes than that," Abdel Hamid said.

He signed off with a clear message about the national team's press conferences. "I hope Ibrahim Hassan comes out to the press conferences instead of Hossam," he said.