Carlos Queiroz leaves as Egypt national team coach
The Egyptian Football Federation and national coach Carlos Queiroz decided this Sunday to terminate the contract that bound the Portuguese to the 'pharaohs' eight months after taking charge of the team and failing to qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
After a meeting at the entity's headquarters, "the board of directors of the Federation thanked Queiroz after terminating the contract by mutual agreement between the two parties," the entity said in a brief statement.
The Egyptian Federation assured that during the meeting "the great effort made" by the Portuguese and his coaching staff was valued since their hiring in September of last year.
"For his part, Carlos Queiroz expressed his joy for the period he spent in Egypt and the love he feels for Egypt and the Egyptians, highlighting his support for Egyptian football," the note added.
The 69-year-old Portuguese coach, former coach of Colombia, Iran, and Portugal, as well as former coach of Real Madrid, was named at the helm of the 'pharaohs' after the dismissal of Mohamed al Badry due to the team's poor performance.
At that time, Egypt, despite being one of the most powerful teams on the African continent and having a player of the caliber of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, was struggling in the qualifying phase.
A recent draw with Gabon had relegated them to second place in Group F, which also included Libya and Angola.
Egypt finally managed to finish first in the group and qualify after winning three of the four remaining matches and drawing one, but in the next and decisive knockout round, they lost to Senegal in the penalty shootout of the second leg after each team had won one match.
In the Africa Cup of Nations held between January and February in Cameroon, they also had a respectable performance since, although they finished second in their group with two wins and one loss (against Nigeria), they reached the final, where they also lost to Senegal, again in a penalty shootout.
Queiroz thus leaves Egypt with a record of ten wins (two of them in penalty shootouts), one draw, and three losses (one of them in penalties). EFE