The Pharaohs have argubaly
been placed into one of the toughest preliminary groups of the tournament,
with two sides that have already qualified to the World Cup; Senegal and
Tunisia. Avenging a personal vendetta will be the Pharaohs' first task
as they take on Senegal's lions in their first ACN encounter. Egypt missed
out on the 2002 World Cup to the Lions, despite accumulating most points
from the Senegalese squad as they held them to a 0-0 draw in Dakar, and
managed to inflict the only defeat to the lions, 1-0 in Cairo, via a most
memorable Ahmed Hossam header.
El Gohary led his team through
the ACN qualifiers with relative ease, and had no significant problems
in the group that contained the Ivory Coast, Libya and Sudan. The Elephants
were stunned 1-0 in Alexandria, then held them to a 2-2 away draw. Sudan
were no competition as Egypt managed a 1-0 win in Khartoum, followed by
a 3-2 Cairo thriller. Libya dealt Egypt their only loss of the campaign
as they avenged a 4-0 loss in Cairo with a 2-0 Tripoli score line.
As many other teams in Mali,
the Egyptians are surely bitter at their World Cup exit, and will undoubtedly
be out to make a point, that is they are worthy of representing Africa
on an international level. Along with Ghana, Egypt is the only team to
have ever won the ACN four times, most recently in Burkina Faso 1998, where
a shunned Pharaoh side, surprised even themselves with a brilliant tournament.
Many are skceptic as to the current Pharaoh side's chances of performing
well in Mali, claiming that the players are either exhausted; referring
to some of Egypt's European professionals, or not fit enough, both mentally
and physically for such a major event.
Scenarios?
Egypt's sour luck extends
beyond their group placement, as anything other than finshing top of Group
D, will see them either exit early if they finish third, or face the huge
possibility of facing Cameroon's Indomitable Lions in the quarter finals.
Cameroon heads Group C, and with competition like the D.R Congo, Ivory
Coast and Togo, they should have no significant problems finshing the preliminary
round on top of their group, and will await the runner up in Egypt's group.
Most critics will agree that Cameroon are best placed to make it the farthest
in the tournament.
If, on the other hand, the
Pharaohs manage to finish first in their group, then they will only face
Mboma and his compatriots in the final, that is, if they make it that far.
Senegal are not our only tough compeititon in the group, but North African
World Cup qualifiers, Tunisia are also set to make their mark, as their
last positive ACN run ended with silver medals in South Africa 1996. Despite
Al-Ahly's conquering of Esperance in the CAF Champions League, Tunisian
soccer has always had the edge on the international level, and we may discover
that the "complex" still exists. Egypt will also be looking to redeem the
1-0 loss in their 2000 ACN quarter final exit at the hands of the Tunisians
through a Khaled Badra penalty.
Group D will most probably
be decided by relative minnows, Zambia, who despite being labeled group
underdogs, will have a lot to say in this "Group of Death". Chances must
be capitalised to the extreme as goal difference may have ruling in the
group, in the case of multiple draws and narrow victories.
Arsenal
Despite the loss of veteran
striker Hossam Hassan, who's role in Mali would have been inspirational
to his team mates, El Gohary does seem to have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Ajax's Ahmed Hossam will be leading the Egyptian offence, and will surely
be tightly marked, leaving volatile players such as Barakat, Bebo, Hamza
and Emam to produce the goals. Egypt's nets are not to be worried about,
with three world class keepers in contention for a starting spot, and according
to Fekry Saleh, Pharaoh keeper coach. "The keeper that starts off for Egypt
will be more than likely to win the best goalkeeper award". As for the
defence, Ibrahim Said, Yasser Radwan and Mohammed Emara are more or less
sure tickets in the back, with a single pace to be contested by Abdelzaher
El Sakka, Wael Gomaa and Hani Said.
As usual, Egypt's greatest
virtue will be their midfield line-up, with Hany Ramzy heading the pack
along with Ahmed Hassan as defensive mids, while Tarek El Said and Mohammed
Barakat expected to rule the flanks. Hazem Emam is a likely choice for
a starting late forward, with Mido being the uncontested man upfront. All
these names, if performing properly and cohesively, should be able to take
on all teams in the group, providing a ruthlessly committed regime is followed.
Egypt's bench contains copius talent as well, with players sure to live
up the team jersey, despite maybe Tarek El Sayed and Abu El Ela. Bebo,
Hamza, Gomaa, Fahim, Hosny and Hani Said will all make suitable subs at
any point of any game.
We can forget seeing Egypt's
inspired performances against Senegal and Morocco in Cairo, during last
June's World Cup qualifiers. For one thing, 80,000 screaming Egyptian fans
will not be present to cheer the team on. Digging into El Gohary's mind,
and given his selection of midfielders, he will most probably revert back
to his "Goharian" school of soccer, which suits African tournaments best.
An air-tight defence, starting from Ramzy and Hassan in midfield and ending
with a quick, tough Ibrahim Said, will be complemented by minimal pass
counter attacks. Expect to see slowly built Pharaoh organised attacks -
not the counters - that will depend on the flanks mainly, with vertical
and horizontal player combinations being executed.
Finally, all that is left
to say is that Egypt's chances are as good as the players want them to
be. Knowing that the full support of 70 million Egyptians worldwide, in
addtion to keen European scouting eyes should provide extra incentive for
the players, but the greatest incentive of all should be placing the Pharaoh
name back at the helm of African soccer, which will not only be accomplished
by winning the tournmanet, but also by providing stellar performances that
will satisfy the average Egyptian soccer fan's aspirations.
egyptiansoccer.com
egyptiansoccer.com
has also some very good previews for you on all other 15 teams
preview
part 1
preview
part 2 |