Egypt Football Association member Sahar El-Hawary praises the U-20 national team players, despite their 2-1 loss to Chile in their opening World Cup game held in Turkey.

"Egypt faced a good team. Chile is a tough opponent for the team, so we suffered a defeat," El-Hawary was quoted as saying on the Egyptian Football Association official website.

"The Egyptian Youth players had bad luck throughout the game," he says.

Egypt failed to preserve their lead, losing 2-1 to a vibrant Chile side in their opening Group E game of the U-20 World Cup in Antalya on Sunday.

Mahmoud Kahraba, Egypt's top scorer in their triumphant African Championship campaign earlier this year, gave his side the lead after 10 minutes, but Nicolas Castillo brought Chile level 15 minutes later. Manuel Bravo struck with 13 minutes remaining to condemn Egypt to an opening defeat.

The Young Pharaohs, who won the U-20 African Championship in Algeria earlier this year, meet Iraq on Wednesday and England on Saturday in their remaining two games in Group E.

"The Egypt players should concentrate on the coming two games against England and Iraq, as it will affect their position in the group's table," he concluded.

Egypt's best position at the World Cup was a third-place finish in the 2001 in Argentina.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports)