Story highlights
Former U.S. national soccer coach Bob Bradley accepts offer from Egyptian FA
Its president Sameer Zahir says the 53-year-old is due in Cairo to sign contract
Bradley was sacked by U.S. Soccer in June after five years in the role
He guided the U.S. to the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa
The Egyptian Football Association says it has reached an agreement with Bob Bradley for the former U.S. coach to take control of the north African country’s soccer team.
The 53-year-old will take over from Hassan Shahatah, who left the position after Egypt failed to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
“We have chosen Bob Bradley to lead the national team after a lengthy negotiation with many foreign coaches,” Egyptian FA president Sameer Zahir told CNN Arabic. “We believe that Bradley is the most suited coach at this stage.
“We sent scans of the contract to him for review and comments and we expect to sign the contract officially with him here in Cairo in a couple of days.”
Zahir said that Bradley will be paid $35,000 per month, a deal which he said suited both the coach and the Egyptian FA’s budget.
Bradley was sacked by U.S. Soccer in June, having led his team to the final of the Gold Cup earlier the same month. A year previously he took America to the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
He will be hoping to guide Egypt to the nation’s first World Cup finals since 1990, with the next edition of the four-yearly tournament to take place in Brazil in 2014.
After coaching at college level, Bradley earned his first big job with Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire, winning a domestic double in 1998 to be named coach of the year.
He later moved to MetroStars in his home state of New Jersey and then Chivas USA of Los Angeles before winning the U.S. job in late 2006.
