'We hope to play good football against Spain to entertain our fans,' says Egypt U23 coach Gharib
Mahmoud Sheleib, , Tuesday 20 Jul 2021
Egypt is scheduled to face Spain on Thursday morning in the first game of the group stage of the Olympic football tournament

Egypt’s Olympic football national team coach Shawqi Gharib stressed that the team will do their best to play good football in order to entertain their fans in the clash against Euro champions Spainon Thursday in the first game of the group stage of the Olympic football tournament

“We’re happy to be here in Japan to represent Egypt. We’ve prepared the team very well and we know that Spain is a tough team and Europe’s champion who have boosted their squad with four senior players and six players who have participated in Euro 2020,” Gharib said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“We are fully aware of Spain’s strengths, and we have also boosted our team with senior players in addition to the good group we already have.”

“We wish to play good football that entertains our supporters, and we also wish to win the game, which will not be an easy one for the both teams,” Gharib concluded.

Egypt international Ahmed Hegazi, a senior player who joined the team from the Saudi side Ittihad of Jeddah, hopes that the Pharaohs win the game against Spain.

“To play in the Olympics and become an Olympian athlete representing your country is a great honour. We hope to play a good game and finish it with a positive result to make Egyptians happy,” the 30-year-old defender said during the press conference.

“Spain is a strong competitor, but we have a great team that has been prepared over four years and we are the African champions.”

“We have great players and we prepared ourselves with a 20-day camp and so ready for facing Spain,” Hegazi added.

Egypt plays in Group C which includes Argentina and Australia besides Spain.

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