Gamal Allam reminded the players after the match that the main goal is to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics and urged the technical bench to work on the striking department.
He is worried that the Egyptian team did not score many goals in their last two games against Eswatini having drawn 0-0 away in the first leg and only progressing to the final round of the qualifiers with just a goal in the second leg played at home.
“Put in more effort in the coming round, we need to score more goals because it won’t be easy against our new opponent,” he said.
“Thank God for getting through this stage, now we have to focus in the next stage which will be more difficult and needs more effort, we trust in you and your ability to make the fans happy,” added Allam when he was addressing the players at the Alexandria Stadium.
Egypt scored through Osama Faisal yesterday to set up a date with the young Chipolopolo Boys who also defeated Sierra Leone 1-0 in Lusaka on Saturday to progress to the next round with a 2-1 aggregate score line following a 1-1 draw in the first leg.
The final round of the qualifiers will kick off in March next year with the first leg fixtures to be played on the 20th and the second leg on the 28th.
The fourth edition of the 2023 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations will kick off in June 2023 in Morocco and will be used as the qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics with the top four teams at the competition earning an automatic spot at the global multisport event.
Egypt will look to qualify for the Olympics for the fourth time and second in a row having participated at the Barcelona 1992, London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 since FIFA decided to make the Olympic men’s football an under-23 tournament.
On the hand, Zambia has failed to qualify for the Olympic games in the last 34 years having last participated in the competition in 1988.
