U-23 team players will be the backbone of the senior team, Gharib

CAIRO –22 November 2019: Egypt U-23 team manager, Shawko Gharib, believes that the U-23 generation will benefit the Egyptian football soon as many of the team players can support the first team.

“Those players will be the backbone of the senior team very soon.” Gharib said.

Gharib led the national team to U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Final for the first time in the history after Egypt defeated South Africa at the semi-finals to secure one of the three tickets for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Gharib added “I hope the final is going to be a match for the fans to enjoy. Our target is the title now after we secured our place in the Olympics which was our initial goal.”

Ivory Coast reached the final for the first time in the history after defeating Ghana at the semi-finals and they hope to be the new champion of the competition.

Gharib continued “Cote d’Ivoire is a very good team and I hope we both give a good image for African football.”

The game starts on 8:00 pm.