The six-time African champions slumped to a 3-1 loss to Algeria in Blida, and now they are in an unenviable position in the qualifying stage.

Gharib also emphasized on the importance of Egypt's next game against Rwanda, saying that recording a victory is essential to keep their hopes alive.

"We need to beat Rwanda, but our qualification prospects also depend on Zambia's qualifier with Algeria," he told Algerian paper Al-Khabar.

Egypt now lie bottom in Group C with a single point, one goal behind third-placed Rwanda.

Zambia and Algeria are joint leaders on four points, and they will clash with each other on june 20th.

Confederations Cup

Gharib reckons that Egypt's embarrassing loss in Algeria should be a reason for Hassan Shehata's men to pay more attention to the FIFA Confederations Cup, which gets underway on June 14th.

"Putting in good displays in the Confederations Cup is now a matter of the utmost importance," he added. "We need to make up for our defeat (to Algeria)."

Egypt lie in the Confederations Cup Group B alongside Brazil, Italy and USA, and many pundits believe they don't have much of a chance to impress.

Egypt's first match in the gigantic competition will be against five-time World Champions Brazil next Monday.