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2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Match 20, Group D
Guinea-Bissau v Egypt
Roumde Adjia Stadium
Garoua, Cameroon
Saturday, 15 January 2022
Kick-off is at 21h00
Title favourites Egypt will be desperate to get their
Africa Cup of Nations campaign up and running when they face Guinea-Bissau in a Group D clash at the Roumde Adjia Stadium on January 15.
The seven-time champions are bottom of the group after losing 1-0 to Nigeria in their opener on January 11 as Mohammed Salah failed to make an impact.
Carlos Queiroz's side need to beat the Djurtus or risk missing out on the knockout stages for the first time since 2004. However, the West Africans are a bit of an unknown quantity to them, having never faced one another before.
Queiroz admits the Pharaohs' game plan didn't work as intended against the Super Eagles, with Salah asked to play through the middle instead of his usual position on the right.
"The goal was during a couple of minutes in the first half to damage the match plan, the match preparation, of Nigeria because everybody expects [Mohamed] Salah on the right side and we started well," the Portuguese tactician said in his post-match interview.
"In the beginning, it worked. Mostafa [Mohamed] gave a good answer and we started controlling the game. But, all of a sudden, Nigeria came up and they started to control the game and it (the system) does not work as we expected for us."
Baciro Cande's troops were unfortunate to come away from their opening match against Sudan with just a point following the goalless draw in Garoua on January 11.
Pele saw his 82nd-minute penalty saved by Sudanese goalkeeper Ali Abu-Eshrein and Piqueti struck the woodwork on the rebound. Joseph Mendes was also denied by the frame of the goal in the first half, while Frederic Mendy saw his effort cleared off the line in the closing moments.
Guinea-Bissau are featuring on Africa's biggest stage for only the third time in their history after also qualifying for the previous two editions in 2017 and 2019.
Cande has set his sights on reaching the knockout phase for the first time despite having to face two former AFCON winners to advance from their group.
"We are proud to be returning to the Cup of Nations for the third time," the 54-year-old told CAFOnline ahead of the tournament.
"This time we will do our best to improve on previous performances. We are in a tough group with heavyweights but we will give our best."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Meetings)
Matches - 0
Guinea-Bissau - 0
Egypt - 0
Draws - 0
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