Hossam El Badry, newly appointed national team manager, encouraged Egyptian fans to come cheer their team in the game against Kenya in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.
Despite their poor performances, Egypt was able to win both of their friendly games under new manager Hossam El-Badry against Botswana and Liberia, but El Badry's leadership skills were in doubt in both clashes as he barely defeated these nations which are considered mediocre teams at best.
The Pharaohs’ will play their first official game under El Badry, when they host Kenya on November 14th.
During their previous friendly game against Liberia, the stadium was seemingly empty, which bothered the former El-Ahly manager who urged the fans to support their nation from the stands.
“I hope fans will come and watch the Kenya game. Because if they’re not present, the game loses a lot of its excitement and affects the players’ performance,” El-Badry told MBC Masr TV channel.
“I select my squad and my starting eleven line up is rational. We can’t always attack or always defend, as it depends on the opponent,” he added.
Ironically, some of El-Badry's key players, who happened to play for the last club he headed- Pyramids, were not able to make it to the game.
“Excluding Pyramids FC players was a disciplinary decision that had to be made. The league had been on hold for a while and we knew the necessity of regrouping all the players early on. The club’s disagreement with our decision was a sign of disrespect.
“There’s more than one player that can replace Abdallah El-Said, such as Mohamed Magdy ‘Afsha’ and Hussein El-Shahat. “El-Shahat stayed with the medical staff in the training camp, despite the fact that all players had some time off before the Kenya match. God willing, he will be ready in the next few days to train with the team.
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