File – Hany Abo Rida
CAIRO – 27 June 2018: Egyptian Football Association President, Hany Abo Rida, revealed on Wednesday details related to the national team's camp at the 2018 World Cup in Russia at a press conference.
“First, I want to apologize to everyone for our poor performance at the World Cup. We all expected a better performance,” Abo Rida stated.
Egypt had a disastrous run at FIFA 2018, losing all three games at the group stage.
Egypt started their participation against Uruguay, where they lost 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Uruguayan defender José Giménez.
Egypt also lost the second game 3-1 to the host nation, Russia, with Mohamed Salah scoring Egypt’s only goal.
Egypt lost 2-1 at the Arab derby against Saudi Arabia, despite leading the score by a goal from Mohamed Salah. However, the Saudi team returned with two goals by each of Salman el-Farag and Salem al-Dawsri.
Asked about choosing Grozny to host the national team's camp, Abo Rida said “We had to choose the city before the draw was held and we were unlucky as we had to travel a lot.”
The Egyptian team travelled more than 11,000 kilometers between Grozny and the cities hosting Egypt's games at the group stage, Yekaterinburg, Saint Petersburg and Volgograd, respectively.
Abo Rida added: “We sent a delegation, headed by Cuper, to Russia after the draw; they visited all the available cities and preferred Grozny. We know nothing about the Chechen political or religious issues; only football matters to us.”
Egypt announced on Tuesday the end of Cuper’s contract after the national team's disastrous performance at the World Cup.
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