Contrary to expectations, Egypt's performance at Friday's African Cup of Nations opener against Zimbabwe was below average, according to assistant coach Hany Ramzy, who believes that things will be gradually better in the coming matches.
"We knew that the opening match will be a difficult one, but we are responsible for what happened as we made it more difficult for us," Ramzy told Time Sport TV channel after the match.
Winger Mahmoud Trezeguet netted in the first half to give the Pharaohs a narrow 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe, to go to the top of Group A.
Egypt, the record seven-time African champions, will face DR Congo in their next game on Wednesday before meeting Uganda in their last Group A match on 30 June.
"Our performance wasn't consistent throughout the whole match. We retreated after scoring the goal by Trezeguet and Zimbabwe got the upper hand for a long time especially amid the void long distances between our lines," the former Ahly defender Ramzy explained.
"We were doing well in the first minutes and we wasted two certain chances and that made the match difficult for us later.
"The most important thing now is winning the game and performance will be better gradually in the coming matches. Our main target is to win the title finally," he concluded.
With Javier Aguirre at the helm, the Pharaohs are optimistic about winning the precious title of AFCON champions for the first time since 2010, the last of their record seven victories.
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