CAIRO - Bob Bradley, the technical coach of Egypt's senior football team, expressed satisfaction with his team's performance against Nigeria in a friendly game in Dubai and stressed that the Pharaohs were improving. The Pharaohs grabbed an exciting 3-2 win over Nigeria, thanks to goals from striker Ahmed Temsaah, Mohamed Abou-Trieka and Ahmed Hassan 'Mekki', while players Sunday Mba and Uche Kalu scored for the Super Eagles. "Today's game against Nigeria has been very useful, particularly since the opponent is strong and has many talented players," Bradley said during a press conference after the game. "I want to thank all my players for their will power, determination and concentration during the whole game up to the last minute." Abou-Trieka's goal put him among the best world scorers in 2012. He scored four goals in three matches; two with his team Ahly against Ethiopian Coffee in ACL and then another one with the national team against Uganda, and finally the goal against Nigeria in Dubai. Accordingly, Trieka is on 19th place of the world scorers in 2012. Barcelona's Lionel Messi tops with 11 goals and Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is on second place with nine goals. The Pharaohs are holding a preparation camp in Dubai until April 18, during which they will play two further friendlies (apart from the one with Nigeria on Thursday night), against Mauritania Sunday and Iraq on April 17. Earlier this month the Egyptian senior team ended a four-day Sudan-based preparation camp, during which they played two friendlies against Uganda and Chad. The Pharaohs stunned Chad 4-0, thanks to a goal by Mohamed Salah in the 30th minute, a powerful Ahmed Khairy header in the 44th minute and a strike by Ahmed Hassan Mekki on 90 minutes. Chad defender Hassan Hussein also helped the Egyptian cause with an own goal in the 88th minute. Prior to this, the Pharaohs defeated Uganda 2-1, thanks to goals by Olympic player Mohamed Salah and Ahly playmaker Abou-Trieka. As for the delay of the Pharaohs' win over Nigeria until the last whistle, Bradley explained this was due to the players' lack of fitness, as they didn't play regular games since the Premier League was cancelled. "Ahly, Zamalek and Enppi players are affected by their clubs' participation in the African tournaments. Some players are suffering from injuries, like Ahly striker Mohamed Naggi 'Geddo', Zamalek left-defender Mohamed Abdel-Shafi and defender Mahmoud Fathallah. But they have joined the camp," Bradley elaborated. Earlier this week the Egyptian giants Ahly, Zamalek and Enppi all qualified for round16 of the African tournaments. Ahly stunned Ethiopian Coffee 3-0 in Cairo's Military Stadium behind closed doors, while Zamalek lost 2-1 to Africa Sports of Côte d'Ivoire, but qualified on the away goal rule in the second-leg matches in round 32 of the African Champions League (ACL). The third member of the Egyptian trio engaged in African competitions, the Petroleum side Enppi, also qualified when comfortably defeating Lydia Academic of Burundi 4-1 in the second leg of the African Confederation Cup round 32. Bradley took over as US coach in 2007, after he was taken on as interim coach when the Americans struggled in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He guided the US team through the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but they lost to Ghana in the second round after drawing with England in the group stage. The 53-year-old coach explained that the most vital element in the game against the Super Eagles was the spirit and desire to win shown by the Egyptian players. As for a comparison with Pharaoh ex-coach Shehata, Bradley said: "It's not fair to compare Shehata and me. The country is experiencing difficult circumstances.” He nevertheless hoped the Pharaohs would reach the 2014 World Cup. Bradley's main task is now to take Egypt to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil; it would be Egypt's third-ever appearance and its first in 24 years. Egypt has been drawn in Group G alongside Guinea, Zimbabwe and Mozambique for the World Cup qualifiers. The Egyptian senior team will start the 2014 World Cup qualifiers in June when hosting Mozambique. A week later they will play their second game in the group against Guinea away from home, before facing Central Africa in the 2013 ACN qualifiers in mid-June. Zaki Abdel-Fattah, the national team goal-keeping coach, described the Nigeria friendly game Thursday night as useful, expressing his satisfaction over the Pharaohs' performance. "The main negative point in our performance against Nigeria were the mistaken passes in the middle of the playground," Abdel-Fattah told Melody Sports TV channel after the game, also pointing out that a large number of players were exhausted. Abdel-Fattah added that Abdel Wahed el-Sayyed, the team goalkeeper, was not responsible for the two goals scored at his net. Abdel-Fattah, the ex-USA goal-keeping coach, emphasised that he would give the opportunity to goal-keepers Essam el-Hadari and Sharif Ekramy in the next two matches against Mauritania and Iraq.
