Aguirre expects a tough clash against Zimbabwe

CAIRO – 19 June 2019: Egypt national team manager, Javier Aguirre, believes that Egypt national team will face a tough opponent at the opening game of 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Egypt opens their participation in the tournament on Friday against Zimbabwe.

“Zimbabwe deserve to be in the competition, they are a strong side. Our first game will be very important because it’s the opening game of the tournament, which will put pressure on us,” Aguirre said.

Egypt plays in Group A alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Aguirre added “Right now, we are only thinking of the Zimbabwe game. The four teams will seek to win every game to qualify,”

The tournament takes place with the participation of 24 teams in six groups for the first time in the history of the African competition.

The manager continued “The most difficult thing we have faced during the preparations was the delayed finish of the Egyptian Premier League, which put pressure on the players as they arrived at the camp very late.”

Egypt national team played two friendly games against Tanzania and Guinea ahead of the competition.

The first game against Tanzania ended with a 1-0 victory for the Egyptians thanks to a goal from Ahmed Elmohamady while the second game against Guinea ended with a 3-1 victory.