Egyptian national football team will play its Liberian counterpart in a friendly on Thursday at Borg El-Arab Stadium as a part of the team’s preparations for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers. The Thursday match will witness 10,000 spectators.
Egypt will start the qualifiers facing Kenya and Comoros on 14 and 18 November, respectively.
Pharaohs new coach Hossam El-Badry earlier requested of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to play a friendly in order to better prepare his players, especially those playing with local clubs, for the qualifiers.
It will be El-Badry’s second match as leader of the Egyptian national team. He strives to restore the public confidence in the team after its disgraceful exit from the round of 16 in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in Egypt recently. After the 2019 AFCON, the EFA sacked the whole coaching staff of the national team, led by Mexican Javier Aguirre. Moreover, the EFA’s Board of Directors, under Hany Abou Rida, resigned.
Pharaohs’ first game under El-Badri was a friendly against Botswana, in which the Egyptian team barely won 1-0. The coach is expected to add new players to his squad from the local league, and may make some changes to the team’s formation.
Some of the players that El-Badri relies on will miss the Libera’s match, such as Ramadan Sobhy and Mostafa Mohamed, who joined the Olympic team that participates in the U-23 AFCON that will start on Friday in Egypt.
Daily News Egypt was informed by a source close to El-Badri that he will rely on players from Al Ahly and Zamalek in the next game.
