The Egyptian national football team, led by Ehab Galal, has been preparing for its upcoming fixtures against Guinea and Ethiopia on 5 and 9 June in the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), to be held in Côte d'Ivoire. The Egyptian team will play Guinea on 5 June among 40,000 fans at the Cairo International Stadium, and then the Egyptian team is scheduled to travel on 7 June to Malawi to face Ethiopia on 9 June. The Egyptian players who play in Europe joined the training camp on Wednesday. Galal aims to present a strong debut performance against Guinea, especially as the team has been heavily criticised during the last period. Galal called on the players during the training to focus on exploiting opportunities. He also held individual meetings with the players who joined the national team for the first time, during which he praised the level they showed during the recent confrontations with their respective clubs. The new coach decided to hold special training sessions for Al Ahly players who joined the camp, in addition to the team's captain Mohamed Salah, before facing Guinea and Ethiopia, as they played recently with their clubs. Last week, Mo Salah's Liverpool lost the UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid, and Al Ahly also lost against Moroccan Wydad in the final of the CAF Champions League. Galal called on the assisting staff to hold special training and qualification sessions for them to raise their morale. Galal was keen to hold several individual sessions after training on Wednesday, with all the players, to clarify the work plan for the next stage, and encourage them to exert more effort during the next period. Galal was keen to watch videos of Guinea's previous matches to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and identify the most appropriate game plan. Galal began to develop his plan and choose the most appropriate elements for his plan, by changing players during the training continuously to reach the best results for the final formation in the Guinea match.
