Egypt’s coach, the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, criticized former player Samuel Eto’o, current president of the Cameroon Football Association, for urging his team’s players to treat the match Thursday, of the semifinal of the Africa Cup against the Egyptian team, as if they were going to war.
Queiroz regretted the statements of the former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Mallorca player, among others , and a great reference in Cameroonian football at the time.
The Egypt coach pointed out that Eto’o “didn’t learn anything when he was in professional football”.
“Unfortunately, I think it is a very unfortunate approach, even for the people of Cameroon. I think he forgot that some Cameroonians died a few days ago in a stadium; making a statement like that in the build-up to a match… I don’t think I learned anything when I was in professional football. It was an unfortunate comment, soccer is not war, it is celebration, joy, happiness”, said Queiroz.
“That is what we are going to do. We will respond with joy and quality football, because we are here to make the people happy… A people that is hungry and wants to have a moment of happiness by winning. He left that statement for CAF to analyze; it is a comment that deserves a red card”, insisted the Portuguese coach.
The Egyptian coach, who denied that Mohamed Salah had tested positive for coronavirus, considers it an honor to play against the local team. “In my experience, when we have the opportunity to play a competition against the local team, it is an honor, a privilege. It’s a semifinal against the host, with so many people, who do their best to have a second of happiness, joy, people who are sometimes hungry and have difficulties, so let’s work together, to create joy and happiness for them. So I appeal to Mr. Eto’o to correct his words, because this is not the way to play, this is not a war. The war is to prevent people from dying of hunger, or at the gates of the stadiums”, he insisted.
“Football is joy, happiness, we have the opportunity to join Cameroon and produce a fantastic football show: that’s our job and that’s what I’m preparing my players for. We will try to respond to the proposed war with the best football, attitude and quality, this is what the fans expect, this is what the world that is looking at the CAN expects”, recalled the Egyptian coach.
Queiroz indicated that the route “has been very hard for everyone, we started the competition with 25 players and now we have 23 available to play against Cameroon. Despite everything, we are happy. In these tournaments, when we change stadiums and play on different fields, the intensity of the players’ effort, in such a short time, usually ends up causing some injuries, but thank God most of them are ready or almost recovered. Only Akram and Hegazy cannot recover here”, he ventured.
The Egypt coach admits that there is “too much noise in the team, too much talk, lies, rumours, many people creating stories with the players… we have people whose job is not to talk, but to continue making tactical comments, or about injuries. As captain Salah said, this is the Egyptian national team, it is not a club, it is not Zamalek, Al-Ahly… it is the Egyptian national team“, lamented Queiroz.
“I hope that The true fans of the Egyptian National Team know that the team is doing well, performing well, having a good friendship, that we are a family and that we do not have wars here. I just don’t understand the stories that are created behind the scenes, people who will do anything to get a few seconds of attention on television, will do everything possible, even if it’s harming the team, “said the Portuguese coach.
Queiroz was critical of the environment on many occasions. “I don’t see anyone from Cameroon telling me who is injured or who is going to play against us, but we have our people telling them everything… This is complete nonsense and I hope that once and for all the Egyptian fans know who is lying to them. , who is deceiving them. I want the fans to know this. We are here for one reason: to play for the people”.
The coach regretted the noise generated around the selection, the criticism and the information that he qualifies as false.
“Professionals play for the people, we work hard and sacrifice ourselves because we play for them. Be aware of those who are using you and misleading you by creating stories. It is unacceptable. And if we want to build a great national team called Egypt, this has to stop. Stop putting clubs in the national team, because that is not the way to progress. We have a President of the Federation who has asked the members of the Board to calm down several times, but they continue, they do not respect the President, they do not respect the Minister and that is not good for the team. Playing against Cameroon is already difficult enough, we don’t need to play against our people at the same time”.
“When a commentator says: “I have an informant within the team”, it hurts the entire team; It is like saying that we have a traitor here. How can someone say that, that there are elements of the team or staff betraying the team? If it was in the department of Mr. Eto’o, who talks about war, you know what they do to informers. It is impossible for someone to have the courage to deceive people, saying that they have an informant within the team, they cannot do this, enough!” insisted Queiroz, who warned that his team is ready for the semifinal match.
“We are ready. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but we will be ready and we will play football. Now all they have to do is choose whether to play football or wage war against us. Because if they choose a war, they lose the opportunity. Against us? Anyone who says otherwise is because he doesn’t know the Egyptians,” he concluded.
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2022