The Egyptian national football team will meet their Angolan counterpart on Friday, in the fourth game of the group stage of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers, before they face Gabon on 16 November at the Borg El-Arab Stadium.
Roger De Sá, assistant coach of the Egyptian national team, said that the team’s gatherings are still short, and the coaching staff will need longer time in order to introduce the players to its ideas and playing style.
He added, during the pre-match press conference, that Angola’s match will be very difficult as they will play with no pressure, but Egypt will play to win.
Regarding the squad, De Sá said: “The choices were made meticulously, and we know all about the national team’s players, and the selection is made not only on the basis of young average ages but also experience and efficiency.”
He added that head coach Carlos Queiroz previously dealt with different players in Europe in various clubs, and he fully knows the value of the psychological factor, and he knows how to deal with the Egyptian players and prepare them for this match.
De Sá said, “We seek to play offensively, but the next match we will be cautious because we play in Angola.”
Egypt lead Group F in the African qualifiers with 10 points, while Libya come second with 6 points, then Gabon are third with 4 points, and Angola are bottom of the group with 3 points. The group winners will qualify to the playoff round for the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Egypt aim to improve their continental ranking, eyeing fifth place in the FIFA monthly classification at the expense of Nigeria, before the draw for the playoff round of the African qualifiers. Egypt ranked sixth in Africa and 44th in the world in the latest FIFA ranking, while Nigeria ranked fifth in Africa and 36th globally. Although the Egyptian team advanced four places globally, they remained in sixth place in the African continent with 1,434.62 points, behind Nigeria (fifth) with 1,492.37, and ahead of Ghana (seventh) with 1,411.3 points.
Egypt need to win all the upcoming matches in the World Cup qualifiers, as well as the Arab Cup, although it is not included in the international agenda, but these matches will be taken into consideration in the classification, but with fewer points.
It is noteworthy that the Egyptian national team played two matches in October against Libya in the African qualifiers for the World Cup, and the Pharaohs won the two matches 1-0 and 3-0.
