Coach of the Egyptian national team, Hector Cuper, says the Pharaohs are not ready to surrender the number one spot on the Gabon 2017 Group G qualifying table and will prevail against Nigeria. The second leg will take place in Alexandria on Tuesday.
Roma striker Mohamed Salah scored a late equaliser to put the Pharaohs in the driving seat ahead of the reverse fixture.
Egypt currently lead the table, two points ahead of the Super Eagles. The Pharaohs would have been leading the table with seven points followed by the Eagles on five points if one of their group rivals Chad had not withdrawn from the qualifiers with the points taken from the footballing minnows struck out.
Chad’s withdrawal has thrown the group into a three-team race for the sole ticket to Gabon 2017.
Second-placed Nigeria have lost three points, after their 2-0 victory over Chad was declared as void.
Argentine manager Cuper, who says he is happy about the performance of his team in their Kaduna draw, say they would be out to pick up all points to seal their place in the finals.
The 60-year-old former Valencia and Inter Milan manager disagreed with Nigeria coach Samson Siasia that the Pharaohs came to Kaduna to pick up a draw, playing defensively to achieve this.
“Siasia has the freedom to say anything but we will attack in Alexandria and will try to win on our pitch,” Cuper was quoted by Egyptian sports outlet Kingfut as saying on Sunday.
He added, “We had a strong first half from the tactical side, but in the second half we committed a lot of mistakes and will work on improving.”
Egypt have not qualified for the tournament since winning the last of their record seven trophies in 2010.