Egyptian Zamalek’s interim coach Khaled Galal will remain in his post next season, said chairman Mortada Mansour on Tuesday.
“Galal will be in charge of the team next season after we dismissed the idea of recruiting Christian Gross,” Mansour was quoted as saying by the club’s official website after the team qualified for the Egypt Cup final on Monday.
Zamalek reached their fifth Egypt Cup final in the last six years after defeating rivals Ismaily 4-1 in the semis.
After a string of poor results that included a shock exit from the African Confederation Cup, Zamalek’s board terminated the contract of coach Ihab Galal and named Khaled Galal as the caretaker manager three weeks ago.
“The results have been promising since Galal’s appointment. He managed to lead the team to beat league champions Ahly, and also to reach the Cup final,” added the chairman.
The appointment of Galal comes just 48 hours after the club announced that an agreement had been reached to hire Swiss coach Christian Gross for a fee of 2 million euros.
The team have ended a four-match winless run with two successive league wins over Assiouty Sport and Ahly, before beating El-Entag El-Harby and Ismaily in the Cup competition.
“The board decision to allow me to remain as Zamalek coach is a big honour for me. I would like to thank the club president for this chance and for his confidence in me. It is a big responsibility for me in the coming period, especially after the negotiations with an international coach like Gross,” Khaled Galal said after Mansour’s announcement.
“We deserved to beat Ismaily and reach the final. I was confident that we would win but I didn’t expect the big score.
“Our target is to end the season with the Cup title, to ensure a place at the Confederation Cup next season and also to play against Ahly in the Super Cup,” he concluded.
The White Knights, who are bidding for their 26th title in the Egypt Cup, hope the win will rescue their catastrophic season, which saw the club end fourth in the league table and exit the Confederation Cup in the round of 32.
In the final, Zamalek will face the winners of Tuesday’s semi-final clash between Assiouty and Smouha.
Source: Ahram Online
