By HARBGUY MWAMBAZI  –
THE Egyptian ambassador to Zambia Ragai Tawfik Nasr has hailed Zambia for hosting the Africa under-20 Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament, in which the Egyptian national junior team is taking part.
Nasr said that this hosting of the tournament also has a cultural exchange attached to it as many countries will send their teams to enjoy not only the tournament, but the interchange their cultural norms.
Nasr also said that he has repeatedly warned the Egyptian side to be prepared as Zambia posed a real threat in this year’s tournament.
“I reminded the football staff back in Egypt that this is going to be a tough AFCON and they should be well prepared for it. Zambia is a very tough team seeing that they won the COSAFA under-20 tournament, so our boys have to be ready. Overall, it will be a great tournament to watch,” he said.
Egypt, who are in Group A, open the tournament this Sunday with a game against Mali starting at 18:hours at Heroes stadium, just after the Zambia v Guinea game then take on Guinea on March 1 and close the group stage against Mali on Marc 4.
He went on to thank FAZ for a seamless arrangement on arrivals and way to the hotels adding Egypt had been taken care well.
“FAZ is doing a good job in making sure that everything is in place, not only for the tournament but also for the team that are arriving. I was in touch with FAZ recently and I say that they are doing a good job in making sure that all the problems are solved with the team, and I commend them,” he said.