Egypt coach Vitoria. Photo: EFA
“We are in a stage in which we should exert all our effort to win that Cup. Our main target is to win the African Cup of Nations title,” the Portuguese coach said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
Egypt are the most successful side in the competition history with seven titles; they are the only team to win the African crown three times in a row (2006, 2008 and 2010) and being an organized team could be the key to add the eighth title according to Vitoria.
The Pharaohs came close from winning the title but were defeated in the finals by Cameroon in 2017 and Senegal in 2021.
“We have a mission to return the Cup to Egypt again. I believe in my players and our work and every game will be like a final for us,” the coach explained.
Egypt will launch their campaign against Mozambique on Sunday 14 January, before facing Ghana four days later, with Cape Verde set to be their last group fixture on 22 January.
“Mozambique is a very good team and we should be humble. Humility is the advantage of any champion. We know that the first game is important for every team and we should be strong and beat Mozambique or any other opponent.
“The team that misses organization through the whole match will face difficulty to succeed. We should control the game and that mission won’t be easy all the time but we will try to do that starting from tomorrow,” he added.
Vitoria also denied that Egypt team depend only on Liverpool star winger Mohamed Salah, adding: “I don’t believe in teams that rely only on persons, but I believe in the organized teams that can make the mission easier for persons to prove their worth and this applies to Egypt team that have Salah.”
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