On Tuesday, the Egyptian Football Association announced the appointment of the twins, Hossam, as technical director and his brother Ibrahim as team manager, following the announcement of the departure of Portuguese Rui Vitoria, after the Egyptian team’s exit from the round of 16 in the African Cup of Nations.

Immediately, questions came to the minds of the followers of the “Pharaohs” team about the manner of dealing between Hossam Hassan and Salah, against the backdrop of the new coach’s previous comments about the Liverpool star.

Hossam Hassan has previously spoken about Salah on more than one occasion, most recently during the former Egyptian national team captain’s analysis of the African Cup of Nations matches on television.

Hassan attacked Salah after his decision to travel to England to receive treatment, following his injury during the match against Ghana in the second round of the group stage, saying: “If I were a technical director and Salah asked to travel, I would allow him to travel, but I will not make him return, as was said, at the time of the final match, even if we suffer a loss. May God grant him success.” God is in Liverpool.

Hassan also commented on replacing Salah during matches if he is appointed head of the national team, saying: “The technical director is not in a challenge with the player. If he is not successful, or is tired, or is not technically ready, of course he will be replaced.”

An old video clip of Ibrahim Hassan has also spread over the past few hours, expressing his desire for Salah not to exceed Hossam Hassan’s international goals.

Salah is close to breaking the record recorded by Hossam Hassan, the historical top scorer for the Egyptian national team, as he is missing 12 goals, to reach the record with 68 goals.

In anticipation of talking about the matter, Egyptian Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhi said that he held a meeting with Hossam Hassan, stressing that the technical director “showed all love and respect for Salah and all his colleagues,” and that he would try to visit all the professional players in their clubs.

"In the footsteps of Al-Jawhari"

Abdel Sattar Sabry, the former Portuguese national team and Benfica star, believes that Hossam Hassan “will present a different version of Salah with the national team.”

In an exclusive interview with Sky News Arabia, Sabry cited the experience of the late Mahmoud El Gohary, the historic coach of Egypt, explaining that “Hassan, the national team captain, was the closest player to the coach, and that is what he will do now with Salah.”

He demonstrated this by announcing that he would travel to meet professionals in their clubs, which is what El-Gohary used to do previously.

The star of the national team that won the African Nations Championship in 1998, accompanied by Hassan, considered that “the statements attributed to Ibrahim Hassan regarding his wish that Salah would not exceed his brother’s international goals are just competition as a player, and will not affect him as a coach.”

Sabry mentioned Hossam Hassan’s position, when he chose the historical formation of Egypt in one of the television interviews, and put Salah as a starter as one of the legends in the history of the “Pharaohs” team.

The former Benfica star confirmed, “Hossam Hassan will repeat what the players did in the 1998 generation with El Gohary, when they chanted their coach’s name in the locker rooms.”

Sabry concluded: “Hossam Hassan has the audacity to introduce a new generation to the national team, and of course Salah will need his help and he will be his right arm during that period.”

"Saddam is waiting"

On the contrary, sports analyst Ibrahim Gad disagreed with Sabry, noting that the dealings between Hossam Hassan and Salah “will witness crises and there will be no reconciliation between them.”

In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Gad attributed the crises to "Hossam Hassan's love for himself to be the first source of interest in the national team, which is not compatible with Salah's international stardom."

He listed the reasons: “Hossam Hassan’s criticism of Salah, as well as his brother Ibrahim’s statements about his desire not to break Hossam Hassan’s historic record, will make jealousy appear over their dealings together.”

As for the technical level, Gad believes that Salah will face great difficulty in Hossam Hassan’s playing style due to his adherence to all players playing defensive roles, and therefore “this will create a clash between them and may lead to Salah being excluded from the coach’s calculations if he does not implement what is required of him.”