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Preview: Egypt better prepared for World Cup qualifiers Egypt are better prepared compared to last year as they resume the World Cup qualifiers with a home game against Zimbabwe on Tuesday
Egypt, still yearning for their first taste of World Cup action in decades, resume their World Cup qualifying campaign at home to Zimbabwe after enjoying a much better build-up compared to last year. The Pharaohs were suffering the adverse effects of a lengthy domestic football stoppage when they played against Mozambique and Guinea in their opening two games of Group G after the Egyptian Premier League was cancelled in the wake of the Port Said disaster. They still pulled off two convincing victories, beating Mozambique 2-0 at home before snatching a last-gasp 3-2 victory at Guinea to garner maximum six points that put them in pole position to finish on top and reach the decisive play-off stage. Egypt are two points clear of second-placed Guinea and four ahead of Mozambique, who played out a goalless draw on Sunday. Zimbabwe lie at the bottom with a solitary point from two games. They are better prepared going into the Zimbabwe game, which will take place at Alexandria's 80,000-capacity Borg El-Arab Stadium, the second largest venue in Africa after South Africa's Soccer City. However, only 10,000 fans will be allowed to attend the match, given security concerns. "The good news is the league has started again, which means we have players inside Egypt getting regular matches," Egypt coach Bob Bradley said in an interview with FIFA.com. "There are also more players playing outside Egypt. So while things were difficult here, other opportunities opened up. And we feel good about it all. We haven't gotten ahead of ourselves but we feel good about our first two results (victories over Mozambique and Guinea) and we have got something going that we believe in. "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." Egypt played against Zimbabwe 10 times, winning five, losing once and drawing four games. Their meetings included an infamous one in 1993 when Egypt beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier in Cairo but the result was annulled after visiting goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar was struck by an object thrown from the crowd. World Cup burden Bradley is tasked with the burden of ending a long World Cup drought as Egypt have not qualified for the football's most prestigious event since 1990 despite dominating the continent with a record seven African Nations Cup triumphs, including three on the trot in 2006, 2008 and 2010. The American boss tried out many new players lately but was criticized by some pundits after the team lost four consecutive friendly games to drop to 75 in the FIFA monthly ranking for their worst-ever position. They have lost 3-0 to Ghana, 4-2 to Ivory Coast, 2-1 to Chile and 3-1 to Qatar since January but rallied back with a 10-0 hammering of minnows Swaziland in their last warm-up game before the Zimbabwe tie. "When I came here, I had a strong feeling that we had to be all in, that we couldn't be part-time. I get asked, ‘Have you thought about leaving?' And the answer is always the same: we have a group and we're committed to what we're trying to achieve, which is reaching the World Cup in Brazil," Bradley added. The former United States coach will almost have a fully-fit squad to choose from, with an abundance of attacking talents at his disposal including Basel forward Mohamed Salah and Zamalek's promising playmaker Mohamed Ibrahim, both of whom have produced some impressive displays recently. Veteran playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika, who at 34 remains an indispensible member of Egypt's squad, shrugged off an injury in time to make the Zimbabwe clash. Egypt will only miss Ismaily midfielder Amr El-Sulaya, who picked up a hamstring injury. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/67657.aspx
