CAIRO: Egypt assistant coach Hamada Sedki said that Egypt still has a long way to go before securing qualification for the 2010 World Cup.
The six-time African champions have been drawn in World Cup qualification Group C alongside Algeria, Zambia and Rwanda.
To my utter surprise, I have received many calls from people congratulating me on booking a world cup berth, which is not acceptable, Sedki told Filgoal.com.
It s too early for congratulations as we still have a long way ahead. The team who will exert more efforts will qualify, regardless of previous achievements or players’ profiles, he added.
Although the African champions technical staff is satisfied with the draw, Sedki believes tough challenges are on the horizon.
The group is relatively balanced. We dodged some strong teams but that doesn t necessarily mean the upcoming qualifiers will be a breeze, said Sedki.
Algeria have recently developed. They have a remarkable team, some of who play for good European outfits; they are perceived as tough contenders, he added.
Moreover, Zambia s outstanding fitness and unlimited ambition are their main strengths; they put in a good performance when they played against us in the African Cup of Nations early this year. They were the only team to hold us to a draw in the African championship.
Sedki also refused to underestimate Rwanda, Egypt s third rivals in Group C, as their results in the preliminary qualifying stage were quite surprising.
Meanwhile, Egypt s technical staff is holding a meeting next week in order to discus the Pharaohs preparations ahead of the last qualifying phase.
We have received bids from Mali and Morocco for warm-up games, and we are going to face one of them in November, added the assistant coach.
The match is supposed to take place in Cairo, and Egyptian officials are due to hold talks with both teams soon.
