The Egyptian national football team will be playing a crucial match on Tuesday in the 2018 World Cup, as a guest on the field of its Russian counterpart at the St Petersburg stadium in the second match to be played by both teams at the World Cup.
Tuesday’s match will see the presence of 68,000 spectators, including 15,000 Egyptians who came to Russia to support the Egyptian team, especially that the team has no alternative for winning, in order to secure its situation and maintain their presence in the World Cup, as well as maintain the hope of qualifying to the second round of the championship for the first time in the history of Egyptian football.
The Pharaohs have only one solution to save their World Cup dream, which is to win and score three precious goals, especially after the 1-0 defeat in the first round’s match against Uruguay. Now the team has to win over Russia and then Saudi Arabia, in order to qualify for the round of 16 and make a historical achievement for Egyptian football in the World Cup.
On the other hand, the Russian team needs to achieve its second win in a row in the World Cup, after its great 5-0 win over the Saudi Arabian team in the opening match. Russia winning over Egypt would raise its credit to six points and allow it to qualify to the second stage, becoming one of the first teams nearing crossing over to the round of 16, with great support by the Russian people.
The Egyptian team is preparing for the return of Mohamed Salah, the star of England’s Liverpool FC, after his absence in the match with Uruguay out of fear of a relapse after his shoulder injury; however, Salah returned to the trainings and is now ready to lead the forward line of the Pharaohs in search of the first win for Egypt in the history of the team in the World Cup since 1934.
Ahmed Fathy, Mahmoud Hassan (Trézéguet), and Tarek Hamed are confirmed to participate in the match against Russia, after the injuries suffered by the last three in the match against Uruguay. Fathy suffered from a cramp in the back muscle and was not present during the last training of the team in Grozny, before the medical team announced his readiness to play in the match as usual.
The Egyptian team is expected to play the match with a formation that includes Mohamed El-Shenawy as goalkeeper, with Ali Gabr, Ahmed Hegazy, Ahmed Fathy, and Mohamed Abdel-Shafy as defenders. Tarek Hamed, Mohamed El-Neny, Adbullah El-Saeed, and Trézéguet will be the midfielders, in addition to Salah and Marawan Mohsen on the forward line.
The Russian team is missing its defender, Alan Dzagoevm, who was injured during the match against Saudi Arabia, whereby Denis Cheryshev will play instead of him. Cheryshev managed to score two goals in the match against Saudi Arabia.
The Russians are expected to face the Pharaohs with a formation that includes Igor Akinfeev as goalkeeper, with Zhirkov, Ignashevich, Kutepov, and Mário Fernandess as defenders, in addition to Gazinskiy, Zobnin, Golovin, Cheryshev as midfielders, and Somolv leading the attack.
