The quartet took a big step to reserve the qualification ticket, especially Tunisia and Algeria, which returned with a valuable victory outside the rules from Mali and Cameroon with a single score of 1-0, and Morocco tied with its host, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1-1, while Egypt achieved the most important thing by defeating its guest, Senegal, the champion of the brown continent, with a single goal with fire. girlfriend.
A draw (negative for Morocco) is sufficient for the four teams to guarantee their presence in Qatar in a historic achievement for the Arab teams in the brown continent, as this number has never reached the finals of a single World Cup, and the last edition was in Russia four years ago, the largest of which was with the presence of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
If they qualify, the number of Arab teams in the finals will rise to six following the host Qatar and Saudi Arabia, in another achievement for Arab football, which remains the largest number of its representatives in the finals 4, and that was in the last edition in Russia, as well as Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The Pharaohs are waiting for a perilous trip to Senegal to confirm their superiority over Senegal and its captain, Mohamed Salah’s teammate in Liverpool, Sadio Mane, at the new stadium “Abdoulaye Wade” in Diamniadio, 30 km from the capital, Dakar, which can accommodate 50,000 fans.
On Friday, Egypt avenged its loss once morest Senegal in the final match of the continental wedding in Cameroon earlier this year by penalty shootout, but its mission will not be easy to return with the qualification card for the fourth time in its history to the World Cup and the second in a row, since the “Tiranga Lions” will be supported by their huge fans in the first Her home match since her second continental crowning in its history.
The Pharaohs suffer from impressive absences in the line of defense due to the injury of the defender of the Saudi Jeddah Federation, Ahmed Hegazy, who missed the first leg, Mohamed Abdel Moneim, who underwent surgery for a broken nose on Friday, and Mahmoud Hamdi “Al Wensh” for suspension.
Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz sent a motivational message to his players, and wrote in Arabic through his personal account on “Twitter”: “The youth of Egypt are ready for the second half. “.
He explained that his team “will defend with 16 players. What I mean by 16 players is that every player has to put in two players, not just one.” He added, “We deservedly won the first leg once morest the best team in Africa and now we go to Senegal to fight for every meter, every ball. Every Egyptian should redouble his efforts.”
On the other hand, Senegal coach Aliou Cissé said, “We seek to address the absence of offensive effectiveness in Cairo,” noting that his country still has the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup, “and we have the ability to compensate for the goal difference, and focus to compensate for the loss.” We believe in ourselves and we believe in our ability to win in order to qualify.
In turn, Algeria seeks to confirm its remarkable result once morest Cameroon when it hosts it at the “Mustafa Tchaker” stadium in Blida, in its quest to reach the finals for the fifth time following 1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014.
The stadium surroundings witnessed an unprecedented rush for tickets for the match, as thousands of fans gathered to buy them, but the attempts of many of them failed due to their limited number, and the process witnessed skirmishes between the supporters, forcing the security interests to intervene firmly.
Algeria seems likely to return the smile to its fans, following the disappointment of the continental wedding in Cameroon when it lost its title by exiting in the first round.
The Algerian captain, Manchester City star, Riyad Mahrez, confirmed that his country has gone one step further on its way to the World Cup finals, stressing that the return match will be very difficult.
“We won only the first half, with a lot of desire and management, but we know that there will be a second match in Algeria that will be very strong,” Mahrez said, adding, “Cameroon is difficult to tame, and we know that he will do the impossible to show his reaction in the second leg, so we will prepare well, and we will be We are ready for this meeting.”
The “Carthage Eagles” are no different from their Algerian neighbors when they host Mali at the “Hammadi Al-Aqrabi” stadium in Rades, as they enter the confrontation with the advantage of winning in the first leg with a clean goal with friendly fire.
And 35,000 tickets allocated for the match were implemented in record time, which made Tunisian fans from different regions of the country grumble for not obtaining tickets, and demanded the authorities to increase the number at the Rades stadium, in order to support the Carthage Eagles and share the joy of qualifying for the sixth World Cup.
Tunisia coach Jalal Al-Qadri called on his players to “keep their feet on the ground, and not to be very happy until following completing the task in the second leg.”
He added, “We have achieved an important step on the path to qualifying for the Qatar World Cup 2022, but we have not qualified yet, and I am sure that the return meeting will be more difficult than going, especially at the level of mental preparation, and we hope to know how to deal with the course of the meeting, whatever the scenario…” in order to reach the finals. For the sixth time in history following 1978, 2002, 2006, 1998 and 2018.
On the other hand, the president of the Malian Federation, Mamato Toure, confirmed upon his arrival in Tunisia: “The match will be difficult without a doubt. We hope that everyone will be ready to win the qualification card…,” adding that the Mali team will play tomorrow “all in all” in order to achieve a historic achievement for the ball. Finance that has never tasted the taste of being in the World Cup.
Morocco seeks to repeat my achievements in 1994 and 1998 when it overcame its Zambian and Ghanaian rivals at Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca to reach the finals of the United States and France, respectively.
Morocco needs a negative tie to reach the finals because, contrary to the laws in force in Europe, the rule of goals scored outside the rules is calculated as double, and therefore keeping the nets clean will enable the “Atlas Lions” to reserve the sixth World Cup card in their history.
Morocco over-achieved in the first leg as striker Ryan Maye missed a penalty, and is determined to make up for it in front of his supporters in Casablanca.
“Egypt depends heavily on Salah, Senegal on Mane and Algeria on Mahrez,” said his French-Bosnian coach, Wahid Halilhodzic, who faces many criticisms because of his tactical plans and choices for the squad. But Morocco counts on 11 players.”
In the last fifth match, the chances of the Nigerian and Ghanaian teams remain equal when they meet in Abuja following a negative tie in Accra, although the relative preference is given to the “Excellent Eagles” who play on their home soil and in front of their fans.
