Former Algerian national team star Jamal Eddine Belamri praised Egyptian national team player Mustafa Abdel Raouf "Zico" after his brilliance in the World Cup.
Mustafa Abdel Raouf Zico
Club: Pyramids
Jamal Belamri said via WTV channel: "I salute Zico, the Egyptian national team star, he has a touching story in his life, and we have thousands of players like Zico in the streets and Arab countries".
He added, "I want to talk about Zico's story from another angle, why did you instill in us as Arabs the necessity of suffering in order to achieve success? Did Mbappé live in Europe the way Zico lived in Egypt? Impossible".
He continued, "The European player is placed in the best conditions so that his success is easy, but Zico's case succeeds once out of 100 times".
He pointed out, "As someone responsible for football or sports, I must draw a lesson from Zico's story of struggle in Egyptian football, and go down to the streets to search for players who suffer like Zico and save them from being lost".
He concluded, "We must not be emotional at this moment only with Zico's story and forget the player's condition and return to how we were, with more players exposed to neglect and loss".
He stressed, "We must search the streets for 50 or 60 players like Zico, support them and care for them in order to benefit from them in national football".
He ended his statements, "My message to the officials, why did you instill in us the necessity that our path be like Zico's or else we will not succeed?".
