Shehata sympathetic with angry Egyptian fans

Egypt coach Hassan Shehata said fans had the right to be disappointed after the team’s goalless draw against Morocco on Tuesday.

كتب : Filgoal Writer

الأربعاء، 25 يناير 2006 - 18:28
Egypt coach Hassan Shehata said fans had the right to be disappointed after the team’s goalless draw against Morocco on Tuesday.

The Pharaohs squandered a host of chances in their African Cup of Nations Group A match against Morocco and failed to put an end to their 20-year-long winless streak against the North African giants.

“Fans have every right to be disappointed after we wasted the win,” Shehata told Filgoal.com on Wednesday.

“I was really hopeful we would come out on top, but what can I say, we were unlucky in the chances that Ahmed Fathi, Amr Zaki and Emad Meteb wasted,” added Shehata.

Shehata did however insist the result was satisfactory.

“Morocco are a strong team, and a draw against them is a great result. They didn’t lose a single game in the World Cup qualifiers,” he said.

Shehata defended his decision to pull out captain Ahmed Hassan and striker Ahmed Hossam “Mido” during the second-half.

“Hassan did very well in the first half but he lacked concentration, so he had to be substituted. Mido was exhausted, he was also falling back into midfield,” he said.

The Egyptian coach stated that he will be eyeing a victory over Ivory Coast in Saturday and explained he is not afraid of facing Cameroon in the second round.

“We played well against them in final World Cup qualifier in Yaoundé, all we need to win here is a little bit of luck,” said Shehata.

Egypt are currently in second spot in their Group A on 4 points and will need a win over pace-setters Ivory Coast to finish as group winners.