What Kind of Job Is Bradley Walking Into?
By ANDREW DASIf Bob Bradley is indeed headed to Egypt this weekend to sign on as the coach of its national team — not a done deal, according to at least one source close to Bradley — then what kind of a job is he walking into?
Egypt won the last three African Cup of Nations titles, but failed to qualify for next year’s tournament. It was closely aligned with the government of the former president Hosni Mubarak, a fact that doesn’t exactly count as a positive in Cairo these days. And when Egypt’s national league was suspended for much of the spring, many of the country’s most passionate fans — after coming together to help lead antigovernment protests — alternately waged open conflict with each other and the security forces.
In short, Bradley’s move is most definitely not the same as taking, say, the Vancouver Whitecaps job. So, wondering what he was thinking, and what he was in for, we asked James M. Dorsey, who writes comprehensively about soccer in the region on his blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer, a few questions about what Bradley can expect, and about some of the obstacles he’ll have to overcome to keep the Pharaohs, a longtime African power, from coming apart at the seams.
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