Egypt coach dismisses “unlucky” tag

Egypt coach Hector Cuper has dismissed assertions that, he has is “unlucky” and can never win a trophy, after losing the finals of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations to Cameroon 2-0.

Coach Cuper is on record, to have lost a number of trophies in competitions such as the 1997 Copa Del Rey finals against Barcelona, Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Cup winners Cup finals against Lazio in 1998.

In 2000 and 2001, he lost the UEFA Champions League finals against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.

“It is not true I am unlucky. We lost against Cameroon, because we were tired in the later stages of the game.

“My players were not physically fit. Our fitness failed us. It is not case of me being used to losing cup finals.” Coach Cuper stated.

The coach said, he was unhappy he lost the opportunity to win a cup for Egypt, because it was a trophy the entire nation was looking for.

“I am really upset for losing this cup. The people of Egypt and the entire players needed the cup, but we were not good enough to win.” He noted.

The coach congratulated Cameroon for wining the trophy saying “they really played well and deserve the trophy”.

The coach said, he was looking forward to discussing his future with the Egypt Football Federation but remained silent on his next line of action.

Despite their failure, Egypt is likely to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia having amassed maximum points from games played so far.

Source: GNA