Anyone can participate with the Egyptian national team: Lehita

CAIRO - 15 April 2019: Egyptian national team's director, Ehab Lehita, explained that the team's coaching staff is open to include anyone to participate in the 2019 African Cup of Nations, pointing out that the most important factor is the player's ability to perform the required tasks.

"We are looking for an element of expertise in the African Cup but the player must be able to implement the plan of coach Javier Aguirre," Lehita added.

The Egyptian national team was put in an easy group in the draw which was held in Egypt on Friday.

Egypt came in Group A with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe in the 2019 African Cup of Nations.

"Aguirre is meeting with the coaching staff on Sunday to draw up a full plan of action in preparation for the African Cup," Lehita said to ON sport radio.

The AFCON starts on June 21 and ends on July 19. The tournament takes place with the participation of 24 teams in six groups for the first time in the history of the African competition.

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.

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.