Following the Algeria beating, a first-round exit from the Confederations Cup and a comprehensive victory over Rwanda were not surprising.

However, a review of Egypt's past four games only proves that our players are by far better when they don't have to deliver.

Two magnificent displays against Brazil and Italy showed that the Egyptian footballer has what it takes to make his mark in front of the best in the world, which is fine.

So logically, odds were in favor of Egypt when they faced a wretched US side, and a 2-0 defeat was enough to steer them to the semis, yet, they couldn’t withstand it.

Egypt players looked unnecessarily nervous during most of the 3-0 Rwanda victory, which only came due to the poor status of the opposition, not to mention an undeserved penalty which was vital in the scoreline.

As they knew they had to win comprehensively, players failed to deal with the concept of an 'easy game', despite the fact that they've won.

There is no comparison whatsoever between the side that beat Rwanda and the side that lost to Brazil.

So the question is: If you have the potential to shine against Brazil and Italy, why can't you do some fine tuning to play better against Rwanda?

In Egypt there is a common say: 'Best results come out of the most feared experiences', but unfortunately, football is another story.

If we want to rise to the challenge of playing in the World Cup, we have to deal with playing against weaker teams.

Looking back at Egypt's most previous World Cup qualifying campaigns, it becomes obvious that the weaker sides were the ones who caused the greatest upsets.

Dropping points against the likes of Liberia, Namibia and Benin demolished Egypt's World Cup hopes in recent years and it will be a pity if Rwanda did the same this time around.