Mission accomplished! Cuper celebrates Eagles’ fall
Egypt coach Hector Cuper says he is happy with the performance of his squad after beating Nigeria 1-0 on Tuesday night.
The Pharaohs clinched the full three points against the Super Eagles in their 2017 Group G CAF Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier in Alexandria following the 1-1 draw in Kaduna last Friday.
According to the Argentine mentor, he said he’s delighted that they’re on the verge of making it to Gabon next year.
“I am very happy that we are on the verge of qualification to the African Cup of Nations,” said Cuper
“I am especially proud of managing this group of players who fought on the pitch for 90 minutes to secure the win for Egypt.
“We played very well in the first half. The second half was not as good as the first, but that normally happens when you come against a tough opponent like Nigeria.
“We threatened the Nigerian goal with many counter-attacks, but were unlucky to finish them. We also could have easily conceded a goal during the match.”
Despite his form at club level with Braga in Portgual, Cúper also spoke about excluding Ahmed Hassan ‘Koka’ from the match squad.
“Hassan is a very good player, but I only choose players based on what I need in the match at hand – tactically, I did not need Koka today,” adds the coach.
“We should all be happy now that we are on the verge of qualification although we know that we made a lot of mistakes that we will work on fixing in the upcoming period.”
The victory for the Pharaohs meant Samson Siasia’s Super Eagles will not feature at Gabon 2017 and it will be the second straight time in two years that Nigeria failed to qualify for the AFCON after they also did not advance to the 2015 tournament in Equatorial Guinea.
