Egypt

THE PHARAOHS are back where they belong but haven’t consistently been there – boxing against the best in the world. The Egyptians have struggled to take their dominance in Africa to the World Cup. Egypt won the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) three times in a row from 2006 to 2010 but they didn’t qualify for the global showpiece during that spell.

In fact, their trip to Russia is their first participation in the event since 1990.

Their star player, Mohamed Salah, was just two years old at the time, just to show how long it’s been.

Essam El-Hadary was 17 years old in 1990. The legendary 45-year-old goalkeeper is set to become the oldest player to feature at the World Cup should he make the trip. His experience and the hunger to succeed from international football upstarts like Salah, Mohamed Elneny and Mostafa Fathi makes Egypt a well-balanced team.

Argentinian coach Hector Cuper has instilled a good work ethic and team unity, kicking out players who think that they are bigger than the team.

There is a feeling that what this generation has already done is just the beginning, there is more they will do in the continent and world stage. Russia is a perfect platform to showcase that.

Egypt are in a relatively okay group, along with the hosts Russia, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. But what will make it tricky is that the game where they are definitely guaranteed three points, against Saudi Arabia, will be their last as they first have to negotiate past Uruguay and then Russia.

They need a positive result in those matches to have a solid foundation.

They have shown great strength and character to bounce back from the football crisis that hit them due to the political turmoil to return to being among the best in the continent.

They lost only one match in a tough group in the qualifiers, competing against Ghana, Uganda and Congo-Brazzaville. Their discipline and good attack helped them past those three teams.