Egypt’s head coach Hector Cuper has revealed his side exploited Nigeria’s weaknesses to win 1-0 in Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Alexandria.
Ramadan Sobhy’s 65th minute goal was enough to earn the Pharaohs maximum points to end the Super Eagles’ dream of reaching Gabon 2017.
“I am very happy that we are on the verge of qualification to the African Cup of Nations.
I am especially proud of managingthis group of players who fought on the pitch for 90 minutes tosecure the win for Egypt,” Cuper addressed the press after the match.
“I am happy with my players' fighting spirit. They did their bestsince they love their national team a lot.”
The Egypt manager also highlighted the team’s counter-attack plans against the Samson Siasia led team which worked well for the Pharaohs.
“We played very well in the first half.
The second half was not as good as the first, but that normally happens when you come against a tough opponent like Nigeria.,” he continued.
“We threatened the Nigerian goal with many counter-attacks, but were unlucky to finish them.
We also could have easily conceded a goal during the match.
“We should all be happy now that we are on the verge of qualification although we know that we made a lot of mistakesthat we will work on fixing in the upcoming period.”
The win therefore puts Cuper’s men in a comfortable position, five points ahead of second placed Nigeria and with Chad pulling out of the qualification phase, only the winner of the group would be allowed to qualify from Group G.
No comments:
Post a Comment