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Egypt’s U23 soccer coach Shawky Gharib is craving for the times when he stepped onto the rostrum to obtain a bronze medal as his youth facet completed third on the FIFA World Championship in Argentina.
Twenty years on, Gharib could have one other shot at worldwide glory as Egypt start their Olympic Video games marketing campaign in Tokyo on Thursday.
The Pharaohs will meet heavyweights Spain within the first match of a tricky group that additionally contains Argentina and Australia.
“In Tokyo, I hope to reprise the identical feelings skilled in 2001, after we made the rostrum in Argentina. It would be nice to have a repeat of that 20 years later,” Gharib advised FIFA.com in an interview.
Egypt should negotiate some mouthwatering clashes to advance to the quarters however Gharib has a humiliation of riches at his disposal, together with star winger Ramadan Sobhi, who propelled them to the African Nations Cup title in 2019 with some excellent shows.
“We have a tricky group, which incorporates not solely my staff because the reigning African champions, but in addition South American champions Argentina, Spain and Australia, third within the Asian Cup,” he added.
“Now we have to take into consideration that the respective squads could have modified quite a bit, particularly after the postponement of the match for a yr. The age issue may even play a giant function, however judging by the present lists, all of the groups taking part in in Tokyo could have impressively manned squads.
“The duty will likely be exhausting for all 4 groups as there’s little or no between us, therefore the problem in making any predictions.”
No Mo Salah
Though he failed in his bid to lure Liverpool and Galatasaray into releasing Mohamed Salah and striker Mostafa Mohamed respectively, Gharib is assured his present crop has what it takes to go far.
He chosen Ittihad Jeddah defender Ahmed Hegazy, Zamalek defender Mahmoud El-Wensh and Ahly’s in-form goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawi as his three over-age gamers.
“We’ll have skilled gamers in defence who’ve participated within the World Cup and the Africa Cup. What’s extra, our three overage picks are all senior members of the primary staff, so we’re hoping they will make the distinction,” Gharib stated.
Egypt have fond reminiscences of Tokyo, town which hosted their greatest ever end on the Olympic Video games as they got here fourth in 1964.
On their final Olympic look in 2012, the staff certified for the quarter-finals, solely to undergo a 3-0 defeat by Japan at Manchester United’s venue, the Previous Trafford.
“Our intention is to go so far as potential, particularly as our greatest outcome on this match got here at Tokyo 1964, after we completed fourth,” Gharib commented.
“Now we have a strong staff, who’ve ready effectively for the Olympics and benefitted from all of the assets made out there by each the state and our soccer federation.
“We discover ourselves in a tricky group so it’s very troublesome to make any predictions. Regardless of this, our aim is to get by way of the group stage and go so far as potential.”
(For extra sports activities information and updates, observe Ahram On-line Sports activities on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Fb at AhramOnlineSports.)
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