Egypt national team coach, Hector Cuper, has said his side will respect any team and be fearless in the bid to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
The Egyptians had won the AFCON a record seven times but had failed to qualify for the last three editions of the tournaments and last played at the World Cup in 1990 in Italy, Goal reports.
Nigeria and Egypt meet in next month’s AFCON qualifier and the Argentine tactician insists his side will not look down on any team because it has hurt them in the past.
“There is no such thing as easy opponents as journalists call them,” Goal quoted Cuper as saying on Fifa.com.
“We must respect any team regardless of the ranking and history, because Egypt itself has suffered in the past qualifiers because it dropped points in what you call easy games.
“I would be lying if I said that I don’t wish to avoid certain teams in the World Cup draw, but my job is to get Egypt prepared for any opponent.
“My job is to make the likes of Côte d’Ivoire, for instance, be worried that they will face us.
“I repeatedly tell my players that we can make people happy. Many people are suffering from the problems of everyday life.
“Some are poor, some are unemployed. For those people, football might be their ultimate source of joy,” he concluded
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