Egypt will take on a wounded Democratic Republic of Congo side at Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday evening in a Group A 2019 Africa Cup of Nations clash.
Kick-off is at 10pm CAT (SA, GMT+2).
The two teams will be desperate for all three points for differing reasons in the Egyptian capital. The Pharaohs will be aiming to take another step towards the knockout stages while the Leopards will be fighting for survival.
Egypt edged past Zimbabwe in the tournament opener last Friday with a superb first-half goal from Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan leading the hosts to a 1-0 win.
It wasn’t the ideal performance for the seven-time champions, with star forward Mohamed Salah not at his best on the night, but one would expect the Liverpool attacker to showcase his world-class credentials sooner rather than later with a whole nation cheering him on.
Egypt head coach Javier Aguirre expects a better performance from his troops and from their opponents, who flattered do deceive in their opening game of the tournament.
“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 slumped to a shock 2-0 loss to Uganda on Saturday with Farouk Miya pulling the strings in a morale-boosting with for the Cranes.
The Leopards were not at their best and when they managed to create chances Uganda shot-stopper Denis Onyango was in the way.
“We let our country down against Uganda,” said DR Congo captain Youssouf Mulumbu. “It was a bitter lesson for us and we plan to correct the situation quickly.”
Among the most inconsistent teams on the continent, DR Congo were ranked fifth in Africa heading into the tournament, three places above Egypt.
Courtesy: SuperSports
