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Egypt national team manager, Carlos Queiroz, was full of lamentation last night as his wards lost a group match for the first time since 2004 to Nigeria in Cameroon.
The coach in his post-match interview with reporters said that his team had a disappointing performance in the first stanza and allowed the Nigeria to dominate which led to the goal conceded.
“Egypt couldn’t have asked for a worse start to their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign in terms of both result and performance,” he lamented.
The Pharaohs fell to a 1-0 defeat against Nigeria, thanks to a goal from Kelechi Iheanacho late in the first-half. The Super Eagles were by far the more dangerous side for the entirety of the encounter and could’ve increased the gap if it wasn’t for Mohamed El-Shennawy’s heroic performance.
The game marked Egypt’s first AFCON opener defeat since 2002 when they lost to Senegal 1-0 and their first group-stage defeat when they fell against Algeria in Tunisia.
Egypt now needs to beat their remaining Group D opponents, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, in order to book their spot in the round of 16.
Queiroz admitted that they produced a very weak display and were inferior to Nigeria, but says they need to focus on their upcoming clashes.
“The performance in the first-half was very poor, and that’s the truth, we weren’t on the pitch,” Queiroz said after the game.
“We only started playing in the second-half. There’s no clear reason behind this failure and defeat against Nigeria.
“We lost this match but there are still six points up for grabs against Sudan and Guinea-Bissau in order to qualify from the group,” he concluded.
