
Egypt U-20 team coach Diaa El-Sayed
Egypt U-20 team coach Diaa El-Sayed believes his side can benefit from playing the World Cup in Ramadan, playing down worries that fasting might exhaust the players during the anticipated tournament.
The World Cup will be held in Colombia from 29 July to 20 August, coinciding with Muslims’ holy month of Ramadan, during which they fast from dawn to sunset.
Al-Azhar, Islam’s highest religious authority in the region, previously said players on international duty are permitted to break their fast but Egypt’s U-20 players do not intend to take up that option.
“I hope my players make use of the holy month’s atmosphere,” El-Sayed, under whom Egypt finished third in the African Youth Championship, said in an interview with Ahram daily.
“Fasting will not affect the players. On the contrary, I hope that it can motivate us to reach the latter stages of the tournament.”
Egypt will open their campaign against four-time winners Brazil in Group E, which also includes Panama and Austria.
“Brazil are a very strong team, they are surely our toughest opponent. A good result against them will hugely boost us in our remaining games. We will do our best to live up to the expectations of the Egyptian people,” El-Sayed added.
Egypt will begin their preparations for the tournament with two matches against Portugal on 4 and 7 July in Lisbon, before flying to Costa Rica to face the country’s U-20 national team on 13 July.
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