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Interview: Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam
by: Marc Reunes (in De
Standaard, 13 October 2001)
Don't mention the mess. Ahmed Hossam apologizes, but this is
not really necessary. You can't you blame an 18-year old
bachelor, living on his own, stumbling over his PlayStation,
can you? But his remark is typical for a player who is getting
rid of his last pimples while entering maturity. Gone is his
big talk: in the Netherlands there is no Ahmed Hossam. There
they only know about Mido, his soccer name written in bold
letters on the Ajax-shirt with number eleven.
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| Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam |
The perfect alibi for a brand new start. The Arab soccer
prince of the Ottenstadium wants to lose the bad image that has
followed him since the transfer to Anderlecht went wrong. Maybe
that's the reason he has chosen for an anonymous row house in
Oudekerk aan de Amstel, some God-forsaken polder village close
to the pompous ArenA. That's where he talks freely about his
first and tempestuous year in Europe. About AA Ghent and about
his old-love Ajax, but especially about Anderlecht and the bad
role he thinks Anthuenis played in the affair.
In Amsterdam they saw him as the new Dani, another southern
looking player with a beautiful pass and the face of an angel.
But in Amsterdam he didn't only win the hearts of many girls,
but also the hearts of many soccer lovers. Until an injury put
a hold to things.
Standaard: Big panic at Ajax. In
the European match against Apollon Limassol you sustained some
brain damage and was even in a wheel chair for a few days.
Mido: In the beginning it all
looked very frightening. I had to stay for four hours in the
hospital, had absolutely no feeling left in my limbs. They
stuck a needle in my buttock, I couldn't feel anything. Yet I
didn't panic at all. Many didn't understand how such a young
guy could stay so calm. But I have gone through a lot of
things, so I could handle this also. My brother in law is a
famous brain surgeon in Egypt. We sent him the X-rays
immediately. He let me know that everything would be alright.
My mentality would have been important for my quick recovering.
And it showed, because after two weeks time I'm almost ready to
join the group again.
Standaard: Bad luck, because you
were just presenting yourself as a real Ajax player: very
strong and blessed with technical skills.
Mido: I made the right choice.
Not Juventus or Real, but Ajax is the perfect club for me. That
my idol Patrick Kluivert received his education here has
probably a lot to do with that. Tell me, where else would a
young player better be off? With Chivu, Van der Vaart and
Ibrahimovic this team is full of talented teenagers, That
creates strong ties between us. The criticism on the youth
academy in Amsterdam is not true. It is full of players in the
reserve-team: it's up to them to show they are good enough.
Standaard: Another thing: you
were the King of Ghent, but here you had to prove that you were
not another Dani. Your match against AZ and your goals against
Sparta really helped you with that.
"That was no luck, because in these
matches for the first time I got the opportunity to play as a
striker in the centre of the attack. Beenhakker & co.
bought me for the left-side, but they know now that I'm
actually no left-winger. Here people talk about blasphemy since
we're not playing with wingers. But Co Adriaanse is a very
clever coach. Depending on the skills of his players he adjusts
the system. But it is possible that he will play with wingers
in the future, but then it will be Wamberto on the
left-side.
Standaard: But what if you lose
your place in the line-up? Last season you said: 'Put me four
matches on the bench and I'm gone!'
Mido: Hold on. At Anderlecht I
didn't want to take place on the bench. At Ajax I do. There is
a big difference between those clubs. Alright, Twente and AZ
are for example not better than Westerlo, but at Ajax you
really feel the atmosphere of a top team. Why wouldn't they not
become as big as they used to be?
Adriaanse has been criticized for his
defensive play style, but we're number one on the standing. He
is really a great guy. Everybody feared that I couldn't work
with such a discipline freak. But they were wrong: even with
fussbudget Remy I felt alright. Which doesn't mean that I will
lose my difficult temper forever. People can't take that away
from me. If I'm on the bench I will think: not my fault, but
the mistake of the coach. Hereby I try to prove him wrong. But
only as long there is a mutual respect.
Standaard: Is this probably the
reason why the deal with Anderlecht went wrong?
Mido: Boy, how many speculations
there were about this case. Once and for all: I will tell you
honestly why I didn't want to go to Anderlecht anymore.
Anthuenis is the guilty one. He stated in the press that this
Mido-guy shouldn't think that he would play every match. With
some twenty matches a year I had to be satisfied.
I thought that was a strange remark.
Usually a club consults also the trainer before they buy a
player. Why did Anderlecht want a player who he wouldn't
line-up afterwards? I didn't understand. At the moment I knew
how Anthuenis thought about it, I was determined not to go.
Anderlecht was a closed book for me. Stoica's story proves that
I made the right decision. the Rumanian is the best player of
Belgium, deserves a chance at every European top club, but
hardly plays in Brussels. Apparently Anthuenis has a different
view on soccer.
Standaard: And we all thought it
had everything to do with money. About Ghent and Anderlecht
arguing about who had to pay you money for signing the
contract.
Mido: It is true that there were
some problems with that also, but that shouldn't have been a
big problem in the end. I was the one who stood firm in this
case. I just thought that I would play another year at Ghent
and that there would come more opportunities later on. By that
time there was no official interest from Ajax yet. Manager
Louwagie, chairman De Witte and my agent Henrotay thought I was
crazy to let so many money go. But that was no item for me.
Keep in mind that I reject Anderlecht twice. If I just wanted
to choose for the money than I would have signed a contract at
Anderlecht already in February last season. Being an amateur I
could leave Ghent without any transfer fee and I could earn
five times more in Brussels than I did in Ghent. But I thought
that was not nice to the club who had given me so many chances.
Ghent earned respect.
Standaard: Talking about respect:
manager Verschueren called you later on a boy who had broken
his word.
Mido: It is true that I gave
Anderlecht my word. But that was before the famous remark from
Anthuenis. That changed the whole situation. Well, Anderlecht
thought the whole time that it would turn out all right. I've
been in the Vanden Stockstadium for three times and every time
Verschueren begged me to sign the contract. Later I left with
the Egyptian team and never heard anything from him since. But
he kept calling my agent, drove even on his own to Merelbeke to
convince my parents. Anderlecht still have the idea that their
word is law, but those days are over. Ask the FIFA and they
will tell you I'm right: these days the player is the boss. If
Milan wants to pay 25 million dollar for me, but I say no then
it means no. They won't understand this in Brussels. Even
without my signature they saw me walking in their jersey. When
the interest of Ajax came out they got pretty nervous and
started telling these insane insults.
Standaard: Now we know why they
turned so mad. They'd better focussed on one player instead of
covering one's bets.
Mido: I follow Anderlecht through
my friend Tarik Said. Apparently they haven't replaced Koller
and Radzinski well enough. You can't judge so quickly about the
new players, but they definitely need some time. Ghent showed
how to do this. Chairman De Witte reacted quickly so that after
I'd left they still have a good team.
Standaard: In the mean time you
got a bad reputation. Johan Derksen from 'Voetbal
International' said that Ibrahimovic and you were two
troublemakers who were in the disco all the time.
Mido: Anderlecht gave me a great
motivation. I have only one goal this season and that is to
prove Michel Verschueren and all the others that I'm a real
professional, that I'm not the womanizer that they take me for.
More than eighty percent of the people in the Netherlands and
Belgium now think I'm an arrogant bastard. I want to show them
that this is not the case. I am not a playboy. On the contrary,
I concentrate fully on soccer. I don't even have time for a
girlfriend. I live here now for four months in Amsterdam, but I
challenge you to find someone who saw me in the disco once. You
won't find anyone.
In my spare time I sometimes visit a
team mate or my parents in Merelbeke. But that's not the only
reason that I am in Belgium so often. Sometimes I visit my old
team mates on the training pitch of the Buffalo's (nickname for
players of AA Ghent, BV). I live in Amsterdam, but my heart
still lies in Ghent. Tell them that they will have loads of
great moments with Hosny. He has just recovered from malaria,
but he can be my successor. Although you can't compare us. He
is more a player for the penalty box, whereas I am a player who
creates his own opportunities.
Standaard: And what will be there
after Ajax: Milan or Barcelona?
Mido: (laughing) "You never know.
But at the moment I feel great with Ajax. With this team I
would love to play Champions League.
(Translated by Bastiaan Vercouteren;
source: De
Standaard)
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