Egypt was disqualified from the race for the title after being defeated 0-1 in the last minutes against Tunisia in the semifinal of the Arab Cup this past Wednesday.

They will now face the hosts Qatar in the third-place match on Saturday.

“We are happy participating in the Arab Cup, and it has been a great opportunity to explore new players who have joined our experienced players such Ahmed Hegazi, Amr El-Solaya, and Mohamed Al-Shennawi,” said Queiroz in the press conference.

“The average age of the team is less than 25 years, with many players wearing the Egypt shirt for the first time. This was the reason we came here, to gain experience, and indeed we won four times and we were not lucky the last time.”

“Many players played in front of spectators for the first time because of the absence of fans in Egypt for the past seven or eight years, so wearing the Egyptian national team shirt and playing in front of the fans was a good experience and taught them a lot,” the Portuguese coach added.

Qatar also bid farewell to the title after losing 1-2 in the stoppage time against Algeria.

“Tomorrow we will face Qatar; the game will be to us like playing a World Cup final because Qatar is the World Cup host and they have been preparing themselves for six years and they participated in Copa America and other big tournaments,” Queiroz explained.

"I have known the Qatar national team well for 11 years. I do not only follow them, but I played against them a lot. They are a team that is developing well and they have one style they follow in playing over the years.”

“It is a great achievement for Egyptian football to come here and let people see that we have good footballers, and I also want to say that facing Qatar on their national day is an honour for us to be part of this event,” he concluded.

Egypt will face Qatar on Saturday at 12:00 pm Cairo local time (GMT+2) in the third-place determiner game. Meanwhile, the final of the FIFA Arab Cup will be later at 17:00 between the North African neighbors Algeria and Tunisia.

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