adminAngola courtesy of two early goals by Manucho inside the first six minutes of that encounter in Luanda.
Needing, at least, to hold the Angolans to a draw in order to secure a berth in the 2012 Afcon finals held in neighbouring South Africa after the Warriors had secured a seemingly health 3-1 lead in the reverse fixture on home soil, Zimbabwe let in two early goals that gave Angola the right to take part in the continental football extravaganza in January this year.
And tonight, the Pharaohs of Egypt believe they can outplay their opponents by getting early goals at Borg El Arab stadium in Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria where the match will start at 7pm.
Zimbabwe need nothing short of an outright victory to keep alive their otherwise fading hopes of a maiden World Cup appearance in Brazil next year.
Speaking to journalists during a Press conference held at the five-star Radison Blu Hotel here yesterday, Egypt gaffer Bob Bradley said getting an early goal would help his team
The former United States mentor said they were not reading too much into their emphatic 10-0 triumph over Swaziland’s Sihlangu in an international friendly last Friday.
“We have been telling our players that they should take each match as it comes. Each match is different from the other,” said Bradley.
“Only if we manage to get an early goal I think we will be home and dry. That will go a long way in unsettling our opponents.
“Yes, we might have won emphatically against another Southern African side, Swaziland, but that does not mean that we will get it on a silver platter against Zimbabwe.
“The friendly match against Swaziland is over and we have put that behind. We are now focused on the match against Zimbabwe.
“I know the Zimbabwean coach Pagels watched us play against Swaziland and has done his homework so there is no need to to read too much into that friendly.”
Bradley said his priority was to take Egypt to the World Cup and every other soccer fan in the North African country is eagerly waiting to see Egypt qualify for the global soccer showcase.
He said he has gathered considerable information about the Warriors and knows their strengths and weaknesses.
“For me when I came to Egypt everyone was talking about 2014 World Cup qualification and that has suddenly become my main mission.
“Everything is changing here in Egypt but if there is one thing that has never changed it is the people’s aspirations to qualify for the World Cup.
“I have heard a lot about Zimbabwe and I have also watched a good number of their matches. I know there are brilliant players like Billiat, Ocean Mushure who played well in their match against Botswana but, after all is said and done, we are ready for the Zimbabweans,” he said.
Bradley said having 10 000 fans watching the match against the Warriors will boost their confidence after having played in an empty stadium in recent matches.
“We played our first World Cup qualifier against Mozambique in an empty stadium and I think playing before 10 000 home fans will boost our confidence.
“I don’t think we will have any problems by playing before 10 000 fans, in fact, it is a bonus for us,’ he added.
Five-time African champions Egypt lead the group standings with six points from two matches while the Warriors, still chasing their first win in this campaign that got off to a horrible start last year, are a distant third and five points behind.
Online Reporter