Egypt coach Shawky Gharib (Photo: Ahram)
Egypt coach Shawky Gharib is adamant his side are capable of avenging an away defeat by Senegal when they host them in a crucial African Nations qualifier on 15 November despite the absence of some key players.
Given Egypt's current unconvincing form, despite two consecutive wins over minnows Botswana, many pundits tip Senegal as favourites to get something from the crunch game in Cairo.
Egypt, who are missing key striker Amr Gamal and regular left-back Mohamed Abdel-Shafi as well as goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy due to injuries, must beat Senegal to stand a chance of reaching next year's Morocco finals.
They lie third in Group G with six points, one behind Senegal and four adrift of leaders Tunisia with two matches to go.
"We are afraid of no one. We have nothing in mind but how to bag all three points to continue our path towards the African Nations Cup finals," Gharib told a news conference on Friday.
Gharib has called-up veteran striker Emad Meteb, who has been one of Egypt's key players during the past decade but fell out of favour recently following a string of injuries, to provide cover for promising striker and Meteb's teammate Amr Gamal.
Arafa El-Sayed, who is the current Egyptian Premier League top scorer with nine goals, was also included in the squad but Egypt will have to cope with shortage in other areas, including the left-back position.
Egypt's squad does not include a reliable left-back to replace the evergreen Abdel-Shafi, prompting Gharib to mull switching Ahmed Fathi from the right to the other flank.
Fathi was repeatedly exposed when he played as a left-back in a 1-0 defeat by Senegal in Dakar.
"He [Fathi] might be deployed as a left-back in our upcoming two games against Senegal and Tunisia," Gharib added.
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