Hassan confident on beating Syrians

Hassan, the most successful striker in the history of Egyptian football, took over as head coach following the departure of Adnan Hamed at the end of June and the Group A meeting with the Syrians represents his first competitive outing with his team.
“It’s very important to put on a good performance,” he said. “We do respect the Syrian team, but we believe we will beat them tomorrow afternoon.

“We have been preparing ourselves since two months ago, staged two friendlies against Palestine and Libya and got good results. So far, we have been doing well in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, which has put us top the standings of our group.”

The game is being played in Tehran due to the ongoing security concerns in Syria but Hassan does not believe holding the fixture at a neutral venue will give his team an advantage.

“I don’t believe it’s that much important whether Syria play in front of their fans or not,” he said. “For us what matters it to keep playing stably and remain concentrated on the matches in front us. We need to maintain the same style when we play home and away.”