CAIRO: Egypt should grasp a golden chance to enter record books when they play in next month s African Cup of Nations in Angola, assistant coach Shawki Gharib said.
Winning a third successive title would be an unprecedented achievement, Gharib told Modern Sport late on Sunday.
We might wait 100 more years to have such a chance again, so we should be fully focused on doing our best in Angola.
Egypt won back-to-back Nations Cup titles in 2006 and 2008 under coach Hassan Shehata to amass six continental titles, two more than Cameroon and Ghana.
They are one of the favorites to lift next month s trophy in Angola, where they will face two-time winners Nigeria and minnows Benin and Mozambique in Group C.
The Pharaohs will have to do without striker Amr Zaki and playmaker Mohamed Abou-Trika, who were ruled out of the tournament with hamstring and foot injuries, respectively.
Their current squad includes 31 players but it will be trimmed to 23 before the end of the month.
We are yet to choose the players who will be named in the final squad, Gharib added.
The players who can play in a variety of positions will be favored.
Egypt, who missed out on a place in the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, open their campaign against Nigeria on Jan. 12.
The Nations cup runs from Jan.10 to 31.
