CAIRO - Egypt's senior football team, headed by America's Bob Bradley, continued its preparations for the second and last friendly with Chad in Sudan tonight, ending the five-day preparation camp in the Sudanese capital. "The coaching staff was satisfied with the team's performance against Uganda on Thursday," said General Coach Diaa el-Sayyed, adding that the match was a useful experience that enabled the staff to evaluate the players' performance. "Many players have the desire to prove themselves in the national team and we will see them in the next period," el-Sayyed explained, pointing out that Ismaili midfielder Ahmed Khairy, Police Union players Ahmed Diwedar and Salah Ashour would join the team in the next camp. The Pharaohs defeated Uganda 2-1 thanks to goals by Olympic player Mohamed Salah and Al-Ahly playmaker Mohamed Abou-Trieka. El-Sayyed praised the performance of Egypt's Olympic duo, defender Ahmed Hegazi and midfielder Mohamed Salah: "They perform steadily and deserve a central place in the main line-up." The Pharaohs arrived in Sudan last Tuesday night and attended a preparation camp, during which they played a friendly with Uganda on Thursday, beating them 2-1, while they will play against Chad today. El-Sayyed explained that the team would attend a closed 8 to 12 day camp when returning from Sudan. "During the camp, Coach Bradley will focus on the largest possible number of players to determine the teams' fundamental line-up," el-Sayyed added. The first national team is preparing to face Mozambique and Guinea in the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifiers; it will also face Central Africa in the 2013 African Cup of Nations (ACN) qualifiers. "The coaching staff hopes the team will play a friendly with Nigeria in April in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers and the African Cup of Nations qualifiers," he elaborated. Sources said that the Pharaohs will hold another preparation camp from April 10 to 20, during which they will play a friendly, although it's not certain whether in Egypt or abroad. Much depends on the security forces' approval. The Ahly and Zamalek players will not participate in the Chad friendly tonight. "Coach Bradley wants them to rest, so they can get ready for their clubs' ACL second leg matches.” Last week Bradley met with the technical coaches of Ahly and Zamalek to arrange for the players in question to join the preparation camp of the national team in Sudan after playing their first-leg ties in the African tournament. The international Ahly and Zamalek players returned to Cairo Friday. The Ahly (Red Devils) players are Mohamed Abou-Trieka, Ahmed Fathi, Hossam Ghali, Walid Soliman and Mohamed Naguib. The Zamalek (White Knights) players are Mohamed Abdel-Shafi, Mahmoud Abdel Razeq ‘Shikaballah', Ibrahim Salah and Mahmoud Fathallah. The Egyptian giants Ahly and Zamalek had mixed fortunes last week in the first leg matches in round 32 of the African Champions League (ACL). Ahly drew 0-0 against Ethiopian Coffee in Addis Ababa, while Zamalek snatched a 1-0 win over Africa Sports of Côte d'Ivoire in Cairo. Zamalek's second leg against the West African team will take place on April 8 in the Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, and Ahly's second leg against Ethiopian Coffee in Cairo will occur on the same date.
