Ayman El-Ramady expected to return for National Bank of Egypt’s next match

Ashraf Nassar, president of National Bank of Egypt, says coach Ayman El-Ramady is expected to recover in time to take charge of the club’s next Egyptian Premier League fixture against Ceramica Cleopatra on Monday, 14 September.

El-Ramady missed National Bank of Egypt’s 3-1 victory over Ghazl El Mahalla at Cairo International Stadium after suffering a health problem. Assistant coach Assem Salah led the team during that match.

The win was National Bank of Egypt’s second in succession and followed a difficult start to the season. Nassar said the club hoped the result would help put the disappointment of its opening two matches behind it.

“Our start to the current season was not as we had hoped, but we achieved our second consecutive victory and hope to close the page on the first two matches. This is what is expected of National Bank of Egypt,” Nassar said on Modern.

He also offered an update on El-Ramady’s condition, saying the coach had already begun to recover and should return to the team in the coming days.

“We hope Ayman El-Ramady gets well. He has indeed started to recover and will be with us in the coming days. God willing, he will lead the team in the next match. It was a health problem and it has passed,” Nassar added.

El-Ramady’s absence was marked by the players after the club prepared a shirt carrying his image in recent days.

“We designed a shirt with Ayman El-Ramady’s image during the past few days, and the players did celebrate it,” Nassar said.

National Bank of Egypt are now preparing for a challenging period of the campaign, with the league’s title-deciding stage becoming increasingly difficult to reach. Nassar said the number of teams competing in the championship group had been reduced over time, with only six clubs now qualifying.

“The rest of the season will be very difficult because the title-deciding group has reduced its number of teams each time until it reached six. This increases the difficulty of the competition, and every three points you earn come with difficulty,” he said.

National Bank of Egypt’s stated objective is to finish among the leading six sides and secure a place in the title-deciding stage.

“Our aim is to be among the top six positions,” Nassar added.

The club’s next opportunity to strengthen that challenge will come against Ceramica Cleopatra on Monday, 14 September, when National Bank of Egypt will hope to extend its winning run and continue its recovery from the setback of the opening rounds.