The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) will Friday night hold a grand festival at Cairo Stadium to honour the Egyptian team after their historic success in the final of the African Cup of Nations (ACN) on Sunday in Angola. Egypt won the trophy for a record seventh time, beating four teams - Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria - who qualified for the World Cup to be held in South Africa later this year. Famous pop singers, including Amr Diab, will perform at the ceremony, the proceeds of which will be donated to the victims of the flash floods, which hit Aswan and Sinai last month. "This festival is to honour the Egyptian team and their unprecedented accomplishment," the President of the EFA Samir Zaher said at a press conference in Cairo late Wednesday. "We wanted to relieve the pain and suffering of the flash flood victims which is why profits from the celebration will be given to them," added Zaher. Zaher later confirmed that President Hosni Mubarak's reception of the team after their elimination from a dramatic World Cup qualifier in Sudan, was one of the strongest reasons behind their determination to win the third continental title in a row. Because of this historic win, Egypt moved up to the tenth place in FIFA's rankings on Wednesday. Meanwhile, record-breaking Egypt's coach Hassan Shehata has turned his back on Nigeria to further his dream of leading the Pharaohs to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. According to Goal.com, the 60-year-old coach has signed a four-year contract extension with the EFA, meaning he has been given another chance to help the North African country qualify for the World Cup. Egypt had failed to qualify for the competition for almost 20 years, since it made a second appearance at Italy in 1990. The first time Egypt featured at the tournament was in 1934. The Pharaohs lost the chance to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after a crushing defeat 1-0 by their North African bitter rivals Algeria in a play-off in Sudan last year. Shehata said on Monday that he had been approached by the Nigeria Football Federation, which are believed to be on the hunt for a replacement for coach Shaibu Amodu. Shehata, who was appointed as Egypt's coach in 2004, is determined to help the Pharaohs to the 2014 World Cup, and the EFA have now handed him the chance to get his revenge.
