The Pharaohs secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Ethiopia at home in the final round of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

“We deserved to win despite missing some players and also the fact that players just returned to action after a long time of rest during the summer vacation,” Vitoria said during the post-match press conference.

“Today’s match was the start of the season for some players and so some of them had not reached top form yet. Failing to score a second goal gave our opponents the confidence to attack,” he added, pointing out that they had won all five qualifying games.

Team skipper and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah was rested by Vitoria in the Ethiopia game, but he will be joining the camp starting Saturday before the team faces Tunisia in a friendly on Monday.

The coach also mentioned that Ahly quartet Mohamed El-Shennawy, Mohamed Abdel-Moneim, Mohamed Hany and Marwan Attia have left the team to join Ahly's training camp ahead of the African Super Cup in Saudi Arabia next Friday.

Under the leadership of Rui Vitoria, Egypt further solidified their hold on top spot in Group D of the African qualifiers, amassing 15 points, having already secured their qualification before Friday’s match. Meanwhile, Ethiopia sits at the bottom with four points.

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