Egypt’s national football team’s performance will be negatively affected by the overwhelming schedule of the recently concluded Egyptian Premier League ahead of the African World Cup qualifiers against Angola and Gabon, Team Director Mohamed Barakat revealed on Sunday.

“The dense league schedule, especially in the last few rounds of the competition, will affect the national team negatively,” Barakat told On Time Sports TV channel.

Egypt will be hosting Angola in Cairo on 1 September in the first round of the qualifiers before flying out to face Gabon on 5 September in the second round.

The Egyptian league season ended on Saturday, with the Pharaohs starting their closed training camp later in the same day in preparation for the qualifiers.

“We had exhausted players who couldn’t train on the first day of the camp and had to go through a rehabilitation programme in the hotel,” Barakat explained.

Champions Zamalek, who clinched their first league title since 2015, concluded their triumphant Egyptian Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw against NBE club on Friday, while runners-up Ahly snatched a stoppage-time 2-1 victory over relegated Aswan.

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