Uganda coach Sebastien Desabre says his team will have a plan to stop the danger posed by Egypt and Liverpool star winger Mohamed Salah when both teams meet at the African Cup of Nations this summer, adding that the Pharaohs come second among the favorites for the prestigious title.
“I know the Egyptian team well, especially Mohamed Salah,” Desabre told Goal.com on Monday.
“He is one of the players with wonderful individual skills and has the ability to be ranked among the best players in the world at the moment. We will have a plan to stop him in our match together,” he added.
Egypt will host the Nations Cup, which has been expanded to 24 teams, from 21 June to 19 July.
The record seven-time African champions Egypt will play in Group A along with DR Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Egypt will kick off the tournament by playing Zimbabwe on 21 June.
Egypt will meet Uganda in their final match of the group stage on 30 June.
“Playing against Egypt is a very wonderful moment because it is the host country and the presence of the fans is great in their game. They will place strong pressure on them, and we will try to snatch the points in the first two matches before the last game against them,” Desabre explained.
“I know Egypt well and the atmosphere there, I worked before in Ismaily and this will give me a chance to adapt. We camped in Egypt recently in order to give the players an opportunity to know the atmosphere,” the Frenchman added.
With Javier Aguirre at the helm, the Pharoahs are seeking to win the prestigious title for the first time since 2010, the last of their record seven victories.
Egypt reached the final of the 2017 edition, only to lose 2-1 to Cameroon.
Aside from his team’s chances at the AFCON, Desabre nominates Senegal, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria for mostly likely to win the prestigious title.
“For me, Senegal are the closest to winning the title. They have a lot of great players. Egypt comes second with Morocco and Nigeria, but wait and see, another team might grab the title,” the coach concluded.
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