World Cup preparations: Egypt takes on Colombia

CAIRO – 1 June 2018: As the World Cup approaches, all participating teams are looking to settle on a possible line-up to play the biggest tournament’s matches.
The Egyptian national team enters a decisive part of the 2018 World Cup preparations; the Pharaohs are set to face Colombia in a friendly match to be held at Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium in Bergamo, Italy, at 9:15 p.m. (CLT).



Egypt’s coach, Hector Cuper, still has some questions to answer as most of them weren’t answered in Kuwait’s friendly match, which ended with a 1-1 draw. He had three questions; choosing a final 23-player squad, changing the style of play from defending to attacking and the best substitute for his valuable play-maker; Abdallah El-Said. But Cuper may still find the answers in the next two friendly matches against Colombia and Belgium.



Another question came up on his table last week; who will replace the Egyptian King, Mohamed Salah?



Salah has been injured during Liverpool’s Champions League final game against Real Madrid, which saw Real Madrid being crowned with the 13th title. Salah’s injury was a shock for almost all Egyptians and especially Cuper, who has to find a suitable replacement for the Best Player in the Premier League; a very hard question indeed.
Salah is set to be out for up to four weeks which means he will miss the first World Cup match for Egypt against Uruguay, the second game against Russia is still in doubt for him but he, as Salah himself said, is a fighter.



Egypt’s players will have to prove that they can play without Salah, who has been very important for Egypt. Cuper will try the 4-2-3-1 formation in this match. The Argentinean coach is likely to play with the main line-up which will be: El-Hadary, Fathy, Hegazy, Ali Gabr, Abdel Shafy, Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Trezeguet, Abdallah El-Said, Ramadan Sobhi, and Marwan Mohsen.



On the other hand, it is a golden chance for the Pharaohs as Colombia is considered one of the toughest teams in the football world now; managed by the Colombian coach Pekerman who plays with a defensive style. Colombia’s team has amazing players like Arsenal’s goalkeeper David Ospina; Tottenham’s defender Davinson Sanchez; Barcelona’s defender Yerry Mina; Juventus’ midfielder Juan Cuadrado; Bayern Munich’s play-maker James Rodriguez and Monaco’s veteran striker Radamel Falcao.