Egypt coach Gehad Arafa has reiterated that the Pharaohs’ main objective is to qualify for the FIFA Futsal World Cup ahead of their third-place match against Libya.
The TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON’s most decorated team failed to make the final of the competition following their shock 7-3 defeat to Angola on Friday, 19 April at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Hall in Rabat.
“Our main objective is to qualify for the World Cup and this ambition is still alive,” said the former Egypt international.
“We have turned our focus to the match against Libya which is the only remaining opportunity to make the global showpiece. We played them during the group stage and won but this match will be completely different because we must win. There’s only one ticket to the World Cup and I hope we will be lucky to win the third spot”, said the coach.
“Egypt has the habit of playing the final of the Futsal AFCON as we have played in all the previous finals and won it three times”, he added.
The Pharaohs beat the Mediterranean Knights 4-0 in their opening fixture in the group stage of the seventh edition of the competition.
“Our expectation was to at least make the final but now we have to forget what happened yesterday and that’s what we did after the match to try to make the players concentrate on the match against Libya,” Arafa concluded.
Saudi based star Mostafa Khala says the Egyptian camp have moved their focus and concentration to the third-place match.
“After the match against Angola we have switched or focus to the match against Libya because it’s an opportunity to qualify for the World Cup. We have discussed with the camp knowing Libya has a very good team so we must take our responsibilities to win this match”, said Khala.
