AMSTERDAM: If you have ever wondered what happened to your favorite big name, bigger personality football manager, chances are they are now on the touchlines of the Saudi Pro League. 

Fatih Terim, Stefano Pioli, Laurent Blanc, and Jorge Jesus are just some of the famous tacticians currently managing in the Kingdom. 

While the big names grab most of the headlines, the league is now producing younger first-time managers from the region who are also making a name for themselves.

Former Palestine international Rami El-Hassan took the reins, albeit briefly, of the Buraidah-based side Al-Raed on March 9, replacing ex-Santos manager Odair Hellmann.

His appointment made history as El-Hassan became the first Palestinian to manage in the Saudi top flight. The 45-year-old’s time with the team spans seven years, six different managers, and a whopping 220 games. 

A long-awaited managerial debut finally arrived on March 13, but ended with Al-Raed losing 3-1 to relegation rivals El-Fateh. 

In spite of the setback, the former midfielder was positive. “It was a (good) experience and a big step in my career, and I feel ready for any challenge in the future,” El-Hassan told Arab News in an exclusive interview earlier this week.

Resiliency has been a hallmark of El-Hassan’s footballing journey. He was born in the Nahr El Bared refugee camp in Lebanon to a Palestinian family from Saffuriya, and his life has rarely been straightforward. 

In spite of hardships off the pitch, El-Hassan has had a knack of being in the right place at the right time. A debut in the Lebanese top-flight in 1996 came at barely 17 years of age with one of Lebanon’s oldest clubs, Tripoli-based Riada Wal Adab. 

“My school was playing a match on their training ground and their Egyptian manager was waiting for us to finish. Afterwards he and his staff came up to me, asked some questions, and offered for me to train with them, and even said they would register and sign me.” 

Keen to prove himself, El-Hassan wanted to sign right away, but first had to get his father’s approval. Any distraction from the pursuit of education was out of the question, especially since El-Hassan was an exemplary student. 

“I said to my father, ‘don’t worry, I can do both well. If you see at any moment I lose focus on my studies you can stop me from playing.’ I think I kept my promise to my father because I completed three years of high school and a four-year bachelor of arts degree from university.” 

Two years after his league debut, a path to becoming a fully fledged international opened up when Palestine was admitted into FIFA in 1998.

Fans of vintage Levantine football might remember El-Hassan from his days playing for Salam Zaghrta. His late runs into the box and set-piece proficiency resulted in 12 goals in the 2003/04 season — good enough for third most in the league and a spot in the team of the season. 

That form caught the eye of the late Alfred Riedl, who held an exploratory camp for Palestinian players based in Syria and Lebanon, which in turn led to a call-up to the Palestine national team in 2004.

El-Hassan’s time with the national team was brief — two caps, one goal — but eventful as part of a generation who still hold the record for Palestine’s biggest win in World Cup qualification (8-0 vs. Chinese Taipei). 

A year after his national team debut, El-Hassan made the difficult choice to end his footballing career early and move to Spain in search of a better future. His passion for football served as the perfect conduit for learning a new language and adapting to a different culture. 

“Learning the Spanish language was the first objective in order to make my life easier,” he said.

“When I was going to the language center, I would buy the two most famous sports newspapers, Marca and AS, and I had a small pocket dictionary and I would read the football news.”

Living with his uncle and Spanish-born cousins for his first two years in Madrid further eased his adaptation. 

El-Hassan also began coaching neighborhood teams in the Spanish capital while pursuing his UEFA B-license. This led to a brief stint in Jeddah with Al-Ahli under Vitor Pereira before joining Atletico Madrid in 2015. 

Having gained a UEFA pro license, a return to the Kingdom beckoned in 2018. The former midfielder’s motives were two-fold. 

“I am the oldest son and I had a responsibility to my family back in Lebanon who lost everything after two wars. I also have three daughters, two born in Madrid and one born in the Kingdom, and thought it would be good for them to grow up around the language and culture of their parents.” 

There were other offers from the Arab world, but El-Hassan recalls: “It was my destiny; it was written to come to Al-Raed.”

His brief tenure as Al-Raed boss came to an end over the international break with the club bringing in their seventh manager, Kresimir Rezic, in as many years. The Madrileno was back to his role of assistant manager for the team’s narrow 1-0 loss to Al-Qadsia in the semifinal of the King’s Cup. 

Reflecting on his time in charge, El-Hassan was full of praise for his players, suggesting they deserved more in their 3-1 defeat. He was also happy to see his former international teammate Ehab Abu Jazar lead Palestine to their first win against Iraq over the international break. 

As for his coaching future, El-Hassan is keeping the door open: “I feel I have potential and the capacity to go further.”