Egypt assistant coach Hamada Sedki admitted that Algeria's victory over Zambia affected his players' morale and had a hand in their stunning 3-0 defeat to the US. Algeria dented Egypt's hopes of reaching the World Cup for the first time since 1990 by beating Zambia 2-0 on Saturday to move top of Group C on seven points, six ahead of the Pharaohs who have a game in hand. Egypt looked close to booking a place in the Confederations Cup semis after stunning world champions Italy 1-0 but were brought down to earth after an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the US. "We are humans after all. The players' morale was affected following Algeria's win over Zambia," Sedki told Arab Radio and Television (ART) after the match. "But we should regain our self-confidence as soon as possible before the remaining World Cup qualifying matches." Egypt, who exited the Confederations Cup after finishing bottom of Group B due to their inferior goal difference to Italy and the US, face Rwanda in their next World Cup qualifier on July fifth. "The players learned a lot from playing against high-profile teams like Italy and Brazil," Sedki added. "We should now focus on the World Cup qualifiers."
