Mahmoud Abdel Rahim Gennesh, the goalkeeper for Modern Future, addressed the recent controversy surrounding his statements concerning his absence and the absence of his team players from the initial squad selection for the Egyptian national team ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Speaking to ON Time Sports 2, Gennesh stated, “Everything I said was truthful and not controversial.
I play for a team competing in all tournaments, and it is natural for me to defend its players when we don’t see the results in the national team selections.”
He added, “Among 50 players, there is only one from a team that plays in the Confederation Cup group stage, performs well in the league, and played in the Super Cup final, and everyone praised him.
After the Super Cup match, people began saying what I’ve been saying, but everyone has their own way of expressing things.”
Regarding the coach’s choices, he emphasized, “The coach’s selections are his concern, and he will bear the responsibility.
No one has spoken to me about what I said before because I did not say anything deserving of that.”
Addressing his criticism of coach Roy Vitoria not watching the games, Gennesh remarked, “In the English Premier League, do you find the England national team coach watching the games? In the first year, I saw Vitoria watching the matches, but after that, I haven’t seen him again.
He may use a performance analyst who watches and provides him with statistics.”
He clarified, “Could I face a penalty from the Football Association for my statements? Why? Everyone has their opinion.
If you were given a paper and asked to choose the national team list, you wouldn’t write the same 27 players who were selected, and the same goes for me.
This is natural in football.”
Reflecting on the Egyptian Super Cup, where Modern Future advanced to the final by overcoming Pyramids in a penalty shootout, Gennesh said, “The penalty I took against Pyramids was easy for me.
I aimed for the middle of the goal, which is something we learn from a young age.
I spoke to Mohannad Lashin before taking the last penalty because he was my teammate, then I felt he might miss.”
Regarding the final against Al Ahly, he said, “The match against Al Ahly was more open than the Pyramids game, and between halves, I told the players that we were good, and we could achieve something.
Indeed, we managed to come back and reach extra time, but we didn’t succeed in the end.”
Reflecting on his recent period with Zamalek, he expressed, “I felt broken when I left Zamalek.
Many things were said about me that were not true.
In my last year with Zamalek, I was injured and subject to rumors while being at home with no one to defend me.”
