CAIRO: Ahmed Hassan believes Egypt is not up against an impossible mission to reach the 2010 World Cup, despite its poor qualifying start.
The African champions slumped to an opening home draw with Zambia, before losing soundly in Algeria to cast doubts over their World Cup hopes.
But Hassan is adamant that he and his teammates are capable of amassing maximum points from their remaining four games in Group C.
We can beat Rwanda home and away, and I think we have what it takes to win against Zambia and Algeria, the Egypt captain told Al-Hayat TV.
Our team is eager to reach this World Cup because it’s a final chance for a number of players to appear at such a top competition.
Hassan urged Egyptian fans to sustain their support to the national team, but stressed that they shouldn’t put pressure on players in the Rwanda game next month.
Fans have been supporting us and that s what we hope to see at Cairo Stadium in the Rwanda game, the 33-year-old added.
But they also should be with us throughout the 90 minutes. We know we must score, but we don’t want to be in a hurry.
Egypt s hopes of making it to South Africa would be dashed if they dropped any points against minnows Rwanda in the upcoming two games.
Hassan Shehata s side are currently bottom of the group with a single point, six adrift of leaders Algeria, who played one more game.
