Playing Brazil and Italy is the best thing that could have happened to Egypt at this particularly low juncture in our football history. Egypt is still smarting from its 3-1 defeat to Algeria which has left it bottom of the group in the World Cup qualifiers. What better way to deal with the upcoming qualifying challenges than to warm up against the best.
One of the golden rules governing sport never changes: one of the best ways to improve in a sport is to play against people better than you, and we re not going to find anybody better in the June 14-28 Confederations Cup in South Africa. Brazil is, well, Brazil. Italy is the defending World Cup champion and the US is 14th in the world. Regardless of the results – and don t expect any Egyptian miracles – by the time we meet Brazil on June 15, Italy three days later and the US on June 21, we ll be as ready as we ll ever be come July 5 when we resume the World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda in Cairo.
South Africa is using the Confederations as a dress rehearsal for next year s World Cup. We should be using the tournament as a practice run for the World Cup qualifiers, and boy do we need the practice. The loss to Algeria, and before that the insipid draw with Zambia in the first round, showed how much training we need. In 2009, we have so far played just three friendly games in preparation for the qualifiers – Kenya, Ghana and Oman – not nearly enough to hone skills and improve team work.
We re doing badly also because we re depending too much on players playing abroad. Coach Hassan Shehata has every right to use the same players who got him the Africa Cup of Nations last year. But at that time only one player, Mohamed Zidan, was playing overseas. The rest were in the Egyptian league and performed like one cohesive unit. Since then, many have gone abroad, but because they play in second class clubs or sit on the substitutes bench most of the time, they are not the same players per say, neither in body nor mind.
This will be Egypt s second appearance in a Confederations Cup. The first in 1999 began auspiciously enough when we tied Bolivia, then came from 2-0 down to draw with hosts Mexico, before being blindsided 5-1 by unfancied Saudi Arabia which before the whistle Egypt had taken completely for granted.
Ten years later, in view of the competition and in light of the recent results, Egypt will be taking no one for granted. If anything, we are going to the Confederations Cup shell shocked and disoriented. But if we are to worry about the scores and forget why we are playing – to learn, not necessarily win – the Confederations experience will serve little benefit.
Losing to Algeria is not the end of Egypt s world or World Cup. If, in the next round, Algeria and Zambia tie, which is very possible, and Egypt beats Rwanda, which is also very possible, then after three games Algeria and Zambia will be tied on five points and Egypt just one behind, with three matches remaining for all.
It looks like 13 points will get the winner of our group into the World Cup.
Egypt has amassed one point from two games, so now we need to win the remaining four. But that is a tall order considering we still have Zambia and Rwanda away.
This is why we should look at the games against Brazil and Italy not as a curse but a godsend. Irrespective of the results, which might not be in Egypt s favor, we need these matches badly to straighten up.
Had we paid, we could not have gotten stiffer opposition. When Ahly hosted Barcelona two years ago, the Egyptian club had to shell out to the Spaniards $2 million. The price to play Brazil and Italy would have been exorbitantly higher. We re getting the best the world has to offer for free. It s an offer that can t be beat.
