Egypt national team coach Hector Cuper March 10, 2015 (Photo: AP)
After beating Tanzania 2-0 in the final round of the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, Egypt coach Hector Cuper appreciated the performance of his players, believing the team was lucky when the hosts missed a penalty shot that could have affected the result.
Egypt took the upper hand before the break when Roma winger Mohamed Salah opened the scoring. The hosts wasted a penalty early in the second half before Salah netted again to take his tally to 26 goals in 43 international appearances.
"Egypt team was lucky when Tanzania wasted a penalty that could have influenced the game's providence," Cuper told reporters during the game's press conference.
"The game wasn't easy as Tanzania dominated our team during the first 25 minutes and they threatened our nets, but Egypt's experienced players managed to dominate the hosts and scored to win."
"We were able to score more goals after the players' effort throughout the game but scored the only two goals we needed," the Argentinean coach added.
"We played a good game and succeeded to suspend the talent of dangerous striker Mbwana Samatta who did nothing during the game."
Egypt, who will not play in the final round of the qualifiers due to the withdrawal of Chad, finished on top of Group G with 10 points from three wins and a draw, eight ahead of Nigeria and nine clear of Tanzania who will face each other in a final group-stage game, although both teams have been eliminated from the next round of Cup play.
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