Egypt coach tips rivals to go far in World Cup

Published on Tuesday 2 March 2010 22:26

EGYPT coach Hassan Shehata believes England should be aiming high at this summer's World Cup.

The Pharaohs are still coming to terms with the fact they will not be in South Africa themselves following their agonising play-off defeat by Algeria in Sudan last November.

Instead, they are having to make do with the compensation of winning their third African Nations Cup on the trot and acting as England's warm-up act ahead of their Group C encounter with Algeria in Cape Town on 18 June.

However, for England, the future remains bright, and Shehata feels his side could be facing the future world champions at Wembley this evening.

"It is only natural for England to be thinking of winning it again," he said. "They have not won the World Cup since 1966, so it is time. They have a great team, with some great players. The English team have a good technical staff and their coach, Fabio Capello, is really good. Also, you have to take into account the Premier League is one of the strongest in the world.

"When you take everything into account, you have to say England have a good chance of winning the World Cup."

As England are currently ranked ninth in the Fifa rankings and Egypt jumped to tenth following their triumph in Angola, where they beat Ghana in the final, it should be a closely-fought encounter.

Certainly, the Egyptians – bolstered by the return of Hull's Amr Zaki, who missed out on selection for the African Nations Cup – are full of confidence, with Shehata admitting it is a superb opportunity for his players to put themselves in the shop window.

He added: "They are all looking forward to it and want to do well because they know scouts of so many English clubs are likely to be at the game."