The Egyptian national under-23 coach Hossam El-Badry (Reuters)
Egypt's U-23 boss Hossam El-Badri refused to blame goalkeeper Mossad Awad or any individual performances after his side's 1-1 draw to Algeria on Sunday.
Zamalek's winger Mahmoud 'Kahraba' Abdel-Moneam gave the Egyptian team a second-half lead with his nice header nine minutes after the break but Algerian striker Zeinedine Ferhat scored the equaliser nine minutes later when the Egyptian keeper failed to deal with his slow shot.
"Keeper Awad's error cost the team a goal but such kind of errors are frequent in football," El-Badri said in a TV programme after the game.
"We were close to winning the game especially in the first half but we failed to capitalise on our goal-scoring chances."
The former Ahly manager believes that his side still has a chance in the competition as there are two games remaining in the group phase.
"We didn't lose the game."
''There are two matches remaining in the group phase and we are determined to earn positive results in these games to advance into the semis,'' he added.
Egypt will face Nigeria on Wednesday before taking on Mali, three days later.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semis in the eight-team tournament.
The first three teams in the final round will represent Africa in the upcoming Olympic games.
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