Egypt look to bounce back against Greece

Mohammed Salah

Monday Mar 26, 2018. 18:30

Egypt will be looking to bounce back to winning form when they face Greece in an international friendly at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich on Tuesday night, kick-off at 20h00 CAT.

NB – This match will be covered LIVE by AfricanFootball from 19h30 CAT onwards, as will the clash between Nigeria and Serbia later in the evening.

Egypt suffered a 2-1 loss to Portugal in a friendly on Friday evening, with Mohamed Salah’s opener overshadowed by two late goals from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Despite the defeat, Egypt coach Hector Cuper was upbeat after the match and looking forward to the clash with the Greeks.

“I think fans noticed how high the player’s level of energy and eagerness was,” the Argentine told ON Sport TV.

“We should note that our opponents [Portugal] were the 2016 European champions. And we wanted to face a strong opponent to test our capabilities.”

He added, “This is why were satisfied despite the loss in the dying minutes of the game. Nobody likes losing but what happened was a valuable lesson.”

Cuper has warned this side that they are far from the finished article, despite qualifying for the World Cup, and wants to see them continue to evolve when they face Greece.

“We did not achieve anything yet, we still have a lot of work to do,” Cuper said. “For us to win, we have to introduce new aspects to our style and add a good balance to the way we play.

“It’s important to never stop, focus and to keep working all the time.”

Egypt have received a boost with the news that Hussein El-Shahat and Omar Gaber will be fit for Tuesday’s clash, while Efthymios Koulouris and Dimitris Limnios will miss out for the former European champions.

Greece come into the match having been beaten 1-0 in Athens by Switzerland on Friday night. Unlike Egypt, they have failed to qualify for the World Cup (for the first time since 2010), but are preparing for the UEFA Nations League and 2020 UEFA Euro qualifiers.