Under the helm of coach Shawky Gharib, Egypt U-23 national football team started a closed training camp ahead of heading for Tokyo to take part in the Olympic Games.
The training staff and players underwent a coronavirus test before performing the training at the Cairo International Stadium.
The team that beat Brazil and drew with South Korea last November has the potential to make an Olympic achievement, Egyptian Football Association (EFA) technical Portuguese manager Nelo Vingada told the players at the start of training session.
The Pharaohs, qualified for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo last year after their U-23 AFCON triumph in 2019. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the games were pushed to 2021.
Egypt was drawn in a difficult group alongside heavyweights Spain, Argentina, and Australia, MENA reported.
Originally scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020, the Games were postponed to July 23 to August 8, 2021, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Elsewhere, the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC) board has decided that EOC President Hesham Hattab will chair Egypt’s mission for the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Hattab said Egypt’s 134-athlete mission in these games will be the largest throughout history.
Hattab said he hopes that the Egyptian athletes will show the best performance and win different medals at the Olympics.
Egypt is set to compete in 25 kinds of sports in the Olympics, including football, handball, karate, tennis, wrestling and athletics among others.
