El Badry: Performance against Angola not satisfactory

by Helder Ribiero

Friday Sep 03, 2021. 09:52

Egypt coach Hossam El Badry has labelled his team’s performance against Angola as unsatisfactory, with the Pharaohs’ mentor hoping for a better performance when they face Gabon on Sunday.

The North Africans got their 2022 World Cup Qualifying campaign off to a winning start on Wednesday evening when they defeated Angola 1-0 in Cairo, with an early penalty from Magdi Afsha.

Yet it was not an impressive showing from the Pharaohs, with even the absence of key players Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Elneny not excusing a disjointed and shaky performance in which they were arguably lucky to claim victory.

“The first match is always difficult, and we didn’t even have time to prepare, except tactically. The players were also very tired,” El Badry explained, as quoted by KingFut.

“The condition we found ourselves in were difficult, with some injured and the absence of others, but I was sure that people would understand because the win is the most important thing in this period.

“We are not satisfied with the performance, of course, but we are still at the beginning. We were exposed to difficult conditions, with the absence of some players and the injury of others.

“There was some rush accumulated with poor positioning in the first half, which gave Angola the opportunity to have more possession, in addition to many wrong passes from us. But the players had a great desire and determination to win. The mistakes were reduced in the second half.

“We need to improve the team’s chemistry, and this will only happen with time, which was confirmed previously. When we have time to be together, the performance becomes better. There is also some players who must improve because their performance greatly affects our offence.”

Egypt will hope to have Salah and Elneny in their squad for the match against Gabon in Franceville on Sunday, as well as Mostafa Mohamed, with the latter player’s uncertainty over his club future at the end of the transfer window ruling him out of the game against Angola.

“I didn’t give Mostafa Mohamed the permission to be absent from the camp, but I understood his position, as it was the last day of the transfer window and it was unclear what his next move would be,” added El Badry.

“He went through a difficult situation and now he has arrived at the camp. The priority for the Gabon will be for those who were with us from the beginning.”