“We Gave Super Eagles Too Much Respect” – El Shennawy

Egypt national team goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy says the Pharoahs gave the Super Eagles too much respect in Tuesday’s AFCON 2021 Group D opener.

The seven-time African champions got off to a poor start after losing 1-0 to the Eagles in what looked like a one-sided game.

The Eagles had a comfortable game, controlling the rhythm the way they preferred, the score gap could have increased if not for El-Shennawy’s courageous display.

Many put the blame on the national team head coach Carlos Queiroz who played multiple key players out of their position, including Mohamed Salah, Mostafa Mohamed and Trezeguet.

However, El-Shennawy believes the blame should be on everyone, stating that it’s a team game and all should be responsible.

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“The result is disappointing, to the players, coaching staff, and to the fans,” El-Shennawy said.

“During the first half we couldn’t rise up to the occasion, but the second half saw some improvement as we wasted a few chances.

“We had a lot of respect for Nigeria, but that backfired on us, being too focused on defense was the reason we conceded the goal.

“We’ll focus on the future now, we only played one game of the tournament.

“Everyone is to blame, we made mistakes and it wasn’t our lucky day, but we promise you improvement in the future.”

The defeat marked Egypt’s first AFCON opener one since 2002 when they lost to Senegal 1-0 and their first group-stage defeat when they fell against Algeria in Tunisia.