El Badry trusts players to have strong start at AFCON Qualifiers

CAIRO – 14 November 2019: Egypt national team manager, Hossam El Badry, will take charge of his first competitive game as national team manager on Thursday night as the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Qualification gets underway.

Egypt hosts Kenya national team at Borg El Arab Stadium during the opening game of the qualifiers, in which Egypt was drawn alongside Comoros, Togo and Kenya.

“We have a strong squad which includes a wide range of talents and I put my trust in them to defeat Kenya.” El Badry said.

Egypt will miss Liverpool Egyptian winger, Mohamed Salah, as the player suffered an ankle injury at the last minutes of the game against Manchester City at the League.

The national team will also miss Hamdy Fathy who scored two goals for El Badry’s side during the two friendly games against Botswana and Liberia.

El Badry added “We have four players ready to replace Salah. I also wish a quick recovery to Hamdy Fathy. He is a very good player and he added value to the team.”

El Badry was appointed as Egypt national team new manager to succeed the sacked Mexican manager, Javier Aguirre, as Egypt was eliminated from the 2019 AFCON round of 16 at home after losing to South Africa 1-0.