After opening the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 with a 67-65 victory over Puerto Rico, Egypt's players promised to do their best to secure more victories in the tournament that their country is hosting at Cairo Stadium from 1-9 July. The Pharaohs made a fine start to their campaign by beating Puerto Rico in the opening day on Saturday. "This is an amazing feeling. It was our goal to win this game. Now we want to win more games," Egypt U19 Basketball captain Omar Farag was quoted as saying on the tournament's official website after the game. "It's such a pleasure to make the fans happy. We came to make them happy. I'm glad we could do that" Egypt, who will take on Lithuania in their second Group B game on Sunday, is the first African country to host the FIBA U19 World Cup. Egypt's Spanish coach Juan Orenga said the players coped well with the pressure of playing before home supporters. "For us, this game was very tough, very difficult because it was the first game. There was the opening ceremony, the team never played in front of so many people," Orenga said. "Our road to try to do something and go to the final eight was to beat Puerto Rico. Next is Lithuania. "This is very important for the team, for the federation, for the country. To win this game in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup and control the game like we did, it was very important because that shows the world that we are improving. If we keep working we can again be at the top of Africa," he added. Egypt are making their fourth U19 World Cup appearance in the last five editions. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
