Egypt target victory in Manzini

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Oct 15, 2018. 12:29

Egypt will target a second win over eSwatini (formerly known as Swaziland) when the teams meet in a Group J 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Mavuso Sports Centre in Maznini on Tuesday, 16 October 2018, kick-off at 15h00 CAT.

Egypt come into the game in second place on the log with six points (trailing leaders Tunisia, who have collected a full haul of nine points), while eSwatini are ranked third with one point.

The teams met on Friday night at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, with the Pharaohs picking up an emphatic 4-1 win thanks to goals from Ahmed Elmohamady, Amr Warda, Mahmoud Trezeguet and Mohamed Salah.

Egypt will hope that a second straight win over eSwatini brings them back into contention for first place on the standings, with Tunisia facing a potential banana skin in their match away to Niger in Niamey (which kicks off at 17h00 CAT).

Javier Aguirre’s side will be without Salah after the Liverpool star picked up an injury in the weekend clash against Sihlangu Semnikati, but they remain favourites to complete a double over the Southern Africans.

“It’s not easy to perform at the same level for 90 minutes, what is important is achieving victory and securing the three points,” Aguirre said in his post match press conference.

eSwatini will hope they can produce a far more resilient showing in front of their home fans and can look to the consolation goal scored by Sibonginkosi Gamedze in Cairo as proof that they can hurt their illustrious opponents.

The match in Manzini will be handled by Sudanese referee Ali Mahmood Ismail.