The Congo national team returned to the competition after its last appearance in 2019, noting that it did not win any match in the group stage, and settled for draws in 3 matches.
For its part, the Egyptian team qualified for this round after drawing in 3 matches, and prominent players in the first round, such as Mohamed Salah, Mohamed El-Shenawy, and Imam Ashour, suffered injuries that will complicate the “Pharaohs’” mission against Congo.
The Confederation of African Football website quoted Egypt coach Rui Vitoria as saying about the confrontation with Congo: “It is an important match, but it is not more than the last three matches. After coming here, we knew that we would only have finals, so there will be another final against Congo.”
Vitoria added about the Congolese team: “It is a good team and it will be difficult to beat it. We are ready, but not 100 percent due to the injuries our players received, and we have to deal with this matter.”
The Egypt coach concluded his speech by saying: “We had a little bad luck from the beginning, but it's football. We are ambitious and we will put our potential to the test. All teams in this competition are equal.”
In turn, Congolese coach Sebastien Desabre said: “It is clear that Egypt is the favorite in this match. We will act as adventurers and this situation suits us well as well. The match will be difficult because we know Egypt’s potential. But we also know that we have the potential to advance. We know what we need to improve.” .
“So far, we have shown interesting things, but they have not necessarily been validated by victories,” Desabre stressed. “It will be a knockout match. We have to do everything we can to win. Our national team players are excited about that. We will apply our style of play. We want to show “For everyone, the Republic of the Congo has returned.”
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