Patrice Carteron Reflects on His Time at Zamalek

French coach Patrice Carteron, the former manager of Zamalek, has revisited memories of his previous coaching stint within the walls of the White Castle, highlighting the key moments and challenges he faced while leading the first football team.

Patrice Carteron spoke to Al-Nahar TV: "I was proud and happy at Zamalek, but I also felt that there were many things that needed to be corrected. Then I received an offer from Saudi Arabia, and I decided to take on the challenge."

He added: "But wherever we work, we do not seek failure; we always strive for success, and this has been our goal with every team we have coached."

He revealed: "When I arrived at Zamalek, the team was very far behind Al Ahly in the league table, and I knew that when Al Ahly is at the top, it is very difficult to surpass them."

He added: "I surprised the players by holding a ten-day training camp, and we trained twice a day. Honestly, I have never done this with any team I have coached before; it was an extremely tough camp, but the players responded wonderfully."

He continued: "We are now ready physically and mentally, and we have won about 80% of our matches, and in the last ten minutes of each game, we were the better side in terms of fitness and mentality."

He added: "I was strict with the players, but we had exceptional leaders like Tamer Hossam, Shikabala, Hazem Emam, and Abdel Shafi, among others. I can't mention everyone, but the dressing room had a fantastic group of players. Zamalek had been absent from titles for a long time, but we succeeded in bringing the team back to the podium after years of absence."