We aren’t 100% ready for DR Congo, Salah injury harder than imagined

Egypt boss Rui Vitoria has insisted that his team isn’t 100% ready for the DR Congo, citing ‘bad luck’ as one of the reasons behind the Pharaohs’ poor performances so far.

Egypt are set to face DR Congo in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations round of 16, with both teams reaching this stage with no wins in the group stages.

This will mark the 13th clash between both Egypt and DR Congo across all competitions, including friendlies, with the latest meeting coming back in the 2019 AFCON, when the Pharaohs emerged victorious 2-0, thanks to goals from Ahmed Elmohamady and Mohamed Salah.

This time, however, the Pharaohs will enter the game without several of their key players, with Mohamed Salah, Mohamed El-Shenawy, and Emam Ashour all ruled out of the tie with injuries.

Speaking ahead of the game, Rui Vitoria said: “It’s an important match for us since the first day we arrived here. We always consider every match as a final for us, and the competition is tough.

“We played three finals in the group stage, and we want to win. We are ready for the game and the small details will make the difference.

“We are not 100% ready because we faced some issues, but this is football. Nevertheless, we enter the match with great strength and a big responsibility, putting all our capabilities on the field.”

When asked if he feels happy to avoid facing Morocco in the Round of 16, he answered, “We don’t think that way. We don’t think about any scenarios. Some teams think big and want to go as far as possible in the tournament. We will face all strong teams sooner or later. There are known strong teams and others that have recently proven their strength. At the moment, I cannot say who is strong.

“The important thing is how a team performs the pitch, and that’s what I should focus on. DR Congo is a strong and organized team with many outstanding players, and they know everything about us. We prepared well, and we know how we will perform against them.

“In every match, we have a different personality, as shown in the group stage. Each match has a different plan. Our priorities do not change, but we must know that there are some things we need to improve, and others we must maintain as they are.”

When asked if he is worried about losing to DR Congo, especially since Egypt historically has an advantage over them, he replied, “We don’t think about such things. Tomorrow is a different match.

“If we win tomorrow, we will continue; if we don’t win, we won’t continue. We won’t think about anything other than the match itself and won’t think about Morocco, Guinea, or anything else. The past is the past, and I don’t own the future yet.”

As for the numerous injuries, Vitoria stated: “When we brought this team and all the players, I would like to remind you that on the first day of the camp, we lost Ahmed Nabil Kouka, then Osama Galal, and after that, the father of one of the delegation members also passed away. Then Salah got injured, which was harder than we imagined.

“And Mohamed El-Shenawy, who got injured in the last 30 seconds, and now Emam Ashour. All of this is bad luck.

“But we must be fully prepared for these scenarios in football, and we must be ready to face all these conditions. We must have solutions within the team to qualify for the next round.”