Contrary to expectations, Egyptians are optimistic about the World Cup draw due to "historical calculations"

The Egyptians were optimistic about the results of the draw for the decisive round of the World Cup qualifiers for the African continent after they were defeated by Senegal, where the first leg will be held in Cairo on March 24, and the second leg in Dakar on the 29th of the same month.

The Egyptians seemed happy after the draw prevented them from playing with one of the North African teams, specifically Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The Egyptians recalled their memories of the matches that brought them together with Senegal throughout history, which amounted to 13 previous confrontations, as the Egyptians won seven meetings, drew on two occasions, and lost in four matches.

The former Egyptian international player Ismail Youssef stressed that playing with African teams, despite their physical and physical strength, is the best for us, unlike playing against North African teams, where nervous tension is predominant in those confrontations, especially when they are in the World Cup qualifiers.

He said in televised statements: "I am optimistic about facing Senegal, although it is currently one of the best teams on the continent. We are good at playing against these teams thanks to the intelligence of the Egyptian player and his high technical skills."

He added, "The current period calls for the need to stand by the Egyptian national team, and to avoid destructive criticism at that particular stage so that our players are not negatively affected before the Senegal matches."

He continued: "Personally, I would not have preferred to play against Tunisia, Morocco or Algeria, because these teams play in a strong defensive manner and have high experience in provoking our players on the field, which may distract our stars from their focus."

The former national team player, Hosni Abed Rabbo, called for the necessity of acknowledging one fact that we are one of the best teams in the brown continent, even if we were not in our best condition at that time.

He said in televised statements: "Facing Senegal requires the support of the state with all its institutions for the national team, as happened in the last World Cup qualifiers and in the African Championships in 2006, 2008 and 2010, to achieve results that delight the Egyptian people."

He added: "If Senegal has a player the size of Mane, we have a star in the name of Mohamed Salah, one of the three best players in the world, and there is a media and public role that must be supportive of the team, regardless of our results in the current African Nations Championship in Cameroon, to provide the players with the atmosphere that enables them to Qualification for the World Cup

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