Egypt battle injured Leopards in Cairo

by Staff Reporter

Tuesday Jun 25, 2019. 17:00

Egypt will be aiming to make it two wins from two 2019 Africa Cup of Nations matches when they take on a wounded Democratic Republic of Congo side at Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Kick-off is at 22h00 CAT.

The Pharaohs got their campaign off to a winning start, edging Zimbabwe 1-0 in the tournament opener last Friday.

Mahmoud 'Trezeguet' Hassan scored a superb goal in front of approximately 75,000 fans in the Egyptian capital to lead the hosts to victory.

The record seven-time champions, though, weren't at their best and while Zimbabwe should take great credit for limiting the North Africans, head coach Javier Aguirre expects an improved performance against DR Congo.

"I expect that both teams will be better in Wednesday's match, as the main target of both of them is to win, with Egypt looking to secure qualification while the opponent wants to revive hopes of proceeding to next round," said Aguirre.

"We must learn to handle the pressure of being among the favourites in order to realise our goal of becoming African champions."

DR Congo suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Uganda in their tournament opener with Farouk Miya teeing up both goals from set-pieces as the Cranes claimed an historic win.

Ranked fifth on the African continent, more was expected from the Leopards who will be desperate to silence the tournament hosts in midweek.