Bradley hopeful for Egypt's chances in World Cup despite ‘difficulties'

American manager Bob Bradley spoke to FIFA about his ‘excitement' over the restart of the African 2014 World Cup qualifiers with Zimbabwe match on 26 March

Egypt manager Bob Bradley is ‘excited' ahead of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers noting the difficulties ahead but also expressing confidence in his squad to overcome them.
“Qualification in Africa is difficult, that home and away ties against another group winner, there will be no margin for error. But we are trying to use every moment and every match to learn and become more confident. We're excited to get back into World Cup qualifying after nine months,” the American tactician was quoted as saying on FIFA's official website on Monday.
Egypt are currently at the top of Group G of the CAF World Cup qualifiers with six points from two games, three ahead of Guinea. Zimbabwe and Mozambique have one point each. Egypt will host Zimbabwe on 26 March. Reports that 30.000 fans will be attending the match would be an exceptional move by the Egyptian interior ministry as they have only allowed a maximum of three thousand spectators to attend matches since the Port Said stadium tragedy last year.
“The tragedy in Port Said touched all Egyptians, and it certainly impacted the football community,” the 55-year-old said, adding that his players “deserve congratulations because all of them had moments where they weren't sure what was happening with their careers.”
The holders of a record of seven Africa Cup of Nations trophies, who haven't qualified for the World Cup since 1990, depend on the former United States coach to end this drought.
“There are some really talented youngsters - Mohamed Salah, Ahmed Hegazy, Mohamed El-Nenny, Mohamed Ibrahim and I can go on -but it's always important to keep in mind, for players like Mohamed Aboutrika, this is their last chance to go to a World Cup. For experienced players to get that urgency across to younger guys, that's key. Their motivation is part of the transition that builds on the experience of this great generation of players but also moves along the right young guys who are ready to play important roles.”
Although the team broke their worst record in FIFA ranking to become 75thglobally in March, being once among the top ten in 2010, in addition to their successive defeats in friendly games, Bradley seems certain that he can fulfill his vow he promised Egyptians 18 months ago when he took charge of the Pharaohs.
“We have a group and we're committed to what we're trying to achieve, which is reaching the World Cup in Brazil.” Bradley concluded in part one of his interview with FIFA.
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