Egypt head coach Javier Aguirre has charged his boys to win ‘every game’ if indeed they want to win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
The hosts made the ideal start to the Africa Cup of Nations by beating Zimbabwe in the opening game of the tournament in Cairo.
Mahmoud Trezeguet scored the only goal of the game with a curled finished just before half time.
Liverpool forward Mohammed Salah came close to doubling his side’s lead in the second half but his low drive was kept out by Zimbabwe keeper Edmore Sibanda.
Ovidy Karuru had Zimbabwe’s best chance with a 30-yard strike late on but that wasn’t enough to get the Zimbabweans a point in the crucial opener.
”We must win every game if we want to achieve our main target, which is the title.” Aguirre said in his post-match press conference.
He continued ”Our performance against Zimbabwe was satisfactory, but we left many spaces in the midfield.
“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.
