Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has described South Africa as “favourites” for the tournament ahead of Thursday’s highly anticipated Group B showdown in Agadir.
The Pharaohs face Bafana Bafana in what could prove a decisive match for both sides’ qualification hopes, with South Africa sitting top of the group after their opening victory over Angola.
“South Africa is a very strong team which we respect and they are among the teams who have shown high performance and are favourites for the competition,” Hassan said at Wednesday’s pre-match news conference.
The former Egypt striker acknowledged the long rivalry between the nations. “We have a long history against them; sometimes they won, sometimes we won. This is a new opportunity.”
Hassan revealed his technical team had studied South Africa extensively. “We have analysed their strengths and weaknesses. They are a team that are very aggressive and play the short-passing game but as a technical bench we have devised plans to contain them.”
South Africa coach Hugo Broos, meanwhile, has played down suggestions his game plan will focus on stopping Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
“It would be a mistake to focus on just one player,” the Belgian said. “The collective effort is what matters. We are not preparing for a match against one player, but against Egypt.”
However, Broos was full of respect for the seven-time champions. “We are excited to play Egypt and we know what kind of a team they are. They are seven time champions of this competition and that means something.”
The match kicks off at 15:00 GMT at Le Grand Stade Agadir, with both teams knowing a positive result would significantly boost their chances of reaching the knockout stages.
