Exclusive: Abo Rida expects Egypt to reach 2019 AFCON Final

CAIRO – 22 January 2018: Egypt Football Association president, Hany Abo Rida, believes that the Egyptian national team will reach the final at the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.

“We have an experienced team led by Javier Aguirre. We will give the team everything they need to perform at the tournament and I believe that they will reach the final,” Abo Rida told Egypt Today on Monday.

The CAF Executive Committee announced on Tuesday, January 8, that Egypt will host the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) matches.

Egypt won the rights to host the tournament after being selected over South Africa.

The 2019 African Cup of Nations was initially scheduled to be hosted by Cameroon. However, Cameroon was stripped of hosting the tournament for serious delays in preparations.

Abo Rida added, " We will reveal the organization committees and the tournament’s official mascot and logo soon."

Egyptian Football Federation boardhad appointed former Egypt International, Mohamed Fadl, as 2019 African Cup of Nations tournament director.

Abo Rida commented on Fadl’s choice, saying “We need to give the qualified people the chance to gain experience. Fadl speaks English and French fluently and he is qualified for the position.”

Egypt is the most successful nation in the history of the competition as Egypt has won a record of seven titles including three in a row between 2006 and 2010.

Egypt hosted four African Cup of Nations' tournaments in 1959, 1974, 1986 and 2006 and they failed to achieve the title only in 1974.