Egypt vs Senegal Match Preview | November 15, 2014

Match Info: Venue: Cairo Stadium | Date & Time: 15 Nov 2014 – 19:00
TV streaming the match: NileSports.com & Nile TV channels

A third successive Egyptian failure to reach the African Cup of Nations is unthinkable for the country’s football-mad supporters and the Pharaohs will be fully aware of that when they host Senegal in a must-win clash on Saturday.

Egypt

Lack of firepower is another major concern for a depleted Egypt side as they face a must-win clash against in-form Senegal in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers on Saturday.

Egypt have struggled to fill in for Amr Zaki and Mohamed Zidan since the former international frontmen suffered a dip in form and were left jobless, with the domestic league hardly yielding a reliable striker.

And just when Ahly’s Amr Gamal started to impose himself, scoring twice in seven international games including the first goal in Egypt’s 2-0 home win over Botswana in their last Nations Cup qualifier, he picked up a serious knee injury that will sideline him for at least six months.

The injury leaves coach Shawky Gharib with a selection dilemma upfront, although he usually fields a lone striker supported by two wingers or attacking midfielders.

A straightforward option would be fielding Emad Meteb although the veteran striker, who scored 33 goals in 69 international appearances, has not played any game with Egypt since 2012, given some niggling injury problems and loss of form.

He has recently returned to Ahly’s starting line-up following the injury of Gamal, netting a hat-trick in an exciting 4-2 Egyptian league victory over promoted Damanhour.

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Who will win?

Senegal

After advancing to the knockout rounds of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations four consecutive times, Senegalhave not done so for an equal number of events – failing to even quality for a pair of them. In Group G of the preliminaries for the 2015 AFCON, they are well-placed, but need points in this week’s two matches – Saturday against Egypt in Cairo and next Wednesday in Dakar hosting Botswana – which are the final qualifiers.
“Our group is super competitive,” explained Mane. “We really have to focus on the next contest in Egypt – it’s a six-point-match. But we have the players and capabilities to win there to take the next big step towards the finals. At the finals, there will be the creme de la creme from the African continent.”

It is a challenge the ambitious young man seems to relish, and he has a buoyant attitude about having become a fixture in the Senegalese national set-up. “It is challenging, but I am proud to be an integral part of the national team already at such a young age,” said Mane. “However, I still keep learning a lot from other older players while at the same time trying to be a role-model for even younger players. It’s just a good balance of experienced, skilful and young players in our team, and this is what make the spirit so special.”

Mane, who first played for the national team in 2012, believes better days for Senegalese football are on the horizon. “I do not want to be over-optimistic, but I can feel that we may start playing a bigger role on the international level again,” he said confidently. “We have to focus on our strength which is playing football, creating a healthy team mentality.

“With all pulling at one string, we can grow and become more successful in the future. But this is a process, which only we are able to influence. So it’s totally up to us. But I am confident that we are able to deliver.”