Egyptian Football Federation Chairman: “We will beat Algeria”

The Chairman of the Egyptian Football Federation, Samer Zaher, considers the Egyptian squad as the best compared to the Algerian players, stressing that Egypt is poised to come out victorious versus Algeria in Sunday's world cup qualifier in Blida.

• Welcome in Algeria!
• Thank you. I am very happy for being in Algeria where I have many friends including my brother Mohamed Raouraoua, the chairman of the Algerian Football Federation.
• How do you feel about Sunday’s qualifying match between Algeria and Egypt?
• We must not overstate things. It is a football match between two brother peoples. We must reject violence in order to keep the sportive context of the match.
• Don’t you think that previous remarks of some players such as Mido and Ibrahim Hassan triggered the conflict?
• Every one of us wants to win and rejects defeat but we must denounce remarks which have nothing to do with the sportive spirit.
• But we can say Sunday’s match is special for you?
• Yes we can. The match is evry important for us because we must beat Algeria if we want to qualify to the World Cup. I think we have all the qualifications to beat Saadane’s players. We are Africa’s champions and it is unreasonable to not qualify. Sorry Algerians. I do respect you but we will beat you.
• You seem extremely optimistic?
• I am very optimistic over the possibility of winning the match in spite of the Algerian supporters’ enthusiasm. Coach Chahata has kept the same players who won two African cups and added some distinguished players.
• Except Mido.
• Mido was excluded because of his low level. He lost many of his capacities compared to his performance previously.
• Was Mido fired because of his previous provocative remarks against Algeria?
• No. Mido was not fired but excluded for a short time. Coach Chahata noticed that his level does not make him eligible to play a good match.
• Mido has a tough temper, hasn’t he?
• Mido behaves himself but sometimes he looses his temper because of his desire to win.