We don’t fear any opponent, Egypt’s coach tells Siasia

Egypt begins their campaign at the Senegal 2015 African U-23 Championship with the sole aim of taking one of the three Rio 2016 Olympic Games’ tickets on offer. And not even the presence of Nigeria in the same Group B can stop the young Pharaohs, their coach, Hossam El-Badry, has boasted.

Egypt will take on Algeria in M’Bour on Sunday in the Group B opener, before Nigeria tackles Mali on the same venue.

The two rivals will be looking to get their campaign off to a winning start before facing heavyweights Mali and Nigeria.

Speaking on his team’s chances in Senegal, El-Badry said, “I have a target and it is to qualify for the Olympics, no matter what the names of the opponents are.

“We don’t fear any opponent as we look to win all our games in the continental tournament to reach the Olympics,” added the former Ahly manager said.

El-Badry’s optimism comes from the fact that most of his players are tested stars, who can stand any condition.
‘‘My team includes many Egyptian Premier League stars and some of them played regularly with the Pharaohs so I am confident that they will perform well in the upcoming tournament.”
Also sure of upstaging Nigeria in Senegal are Algeria, who started preparing for the competition more than three months ago.
Algeria’s Goalkeeper, Abdelkader Salhi told competition.dz. on the eve of their departure for the competition that ‘‘I think we are ready. We have been working very hard to represent our country in the best possible way.
“We are launching our campaign against Egypt, and if it goes well I cannot see why we won’t be able to keep our momentum going and qualify for the Olympics. It is the dream of any player and we will do everything to reach our objective.”