Egypt boss Javier Aguirre has revealed his satisfaction with his side’s performance following their 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe in the 2019 AFCON.
Hosts Egypt have got off to a great start after beating Zimbabwe in the opening game of the 2019 AFCON, thanks to Mahmoud Trezeguet’s strike.
The Pharaohs had a number of chances to score more goals through Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, and Abdallah El-Said, but Zimbabwe keeper Edmore Sibanda was on top.
On the other hand, Mohamed El-Shennawy has also denied Zimbabwe from scoring, when Khama Billiat found himself through on goal in the first-half.
Egypt’s performance in the latter stages of the game has caused concerns among some fans, however, Aguirre has revealed that he is not worried, saying the performance levels dropped due to fatigue.
“Our performance against Zimbabwe was satisfactory, but we left many spaces in the midfield,” Aguirre said in his post-match press conference.
“The opponents’ movements were very fast and caused us a lot of problems. Zimbabwe’s performance improved in the second-half. We played against a very organized team.
“We missed many clear-cut chances, including Mohamed Salah’s one-on-one chance.
“Our performance dropped in the second-half due to the pressure we faced as well as fatigue.
“Zimbabwe had nothing to lose after conceding, which made them attack and create chances. We will work on fixing the problems in the upcoming games.
“We must win every game if we want to achieve our main target, which is the title.”
On Thursday, Zimbabwe’s players threatened not to play against Egypt if they were not paid participation fees, before retracting their decision later on.
Asked about the issue, Aguirre said: “I was not aware of the issue Zimbabwe had. We were far from external problems.
“I am not 100% happy about the players’ performance in the second-half, but I am not worried because it’s only the first game,” he concluded.
The win put Egypt top of group A ahead of Uganda’s clash against DR Congo on Saturday at 16:30 CLT.
The Pharaohs’ next game will be against DR Congo on Wednesday, June 26, with the hosts securing their spot in the round of 16 in case they managed to get the win.
