TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON: Egypt coach Mahmoud Gaber calls for strong start
Egypt coach Mahmoud Gaber has challenged his team to start their TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations campaign on a bright note when they face Mozambique on Sunday.
The Young Pharaohs will play the opening match of the biennial competition at the Cairo International Stadium.
The tactician was speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the game which will be played across the cities of Cairo, Ismailia and Alexandria from 19 February to 11 March, 2023.
“We welcome all the teams because Egypt is their country like us,” said Egypt coach Gaber. “It's a difficult group with great teams.”
This will be the second TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations to take place in Egypt after the 1991 edition.
Egypt is housed in Group A alongside three-time runners-up Senegal and record seven-time champions Nigeria.
“We must be on point from the start, we have no room for error. All the teams can qualify, we will play to our full potential,” the former Ismaily coach told reporters.
The hosts will enjoy home support as they search for their fifth continental crown in the TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Playing for Egypt is an honor for every player, and you must honorably represent the jersey and the country. We want the public to come massively and unite behind the team.”
The hosts will be without Italian based forward Salah Basha through injury. The Giugliano Calcio striker was expected to lead the attack, but Gaber will do without his service.
Forward Bilal Mazhar said his team is determined to start with a win as they intend to make their fans happy.
Bilal said that he and his colleagues will spare no effort to make the Egyptian people happy and achieve the desired goal.
“We had a good preparation for the tournament, and it was easy to integrate the players because of the pre-tournament training camps,” said Mazhar.
“We are very excited to play in front of a large Egyptian audience, and the team will try to take advantage of our home support.”