Egypt are not hot as before – Oliseh

 Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh has said that he is confident that the Super Eagles can secure the maximum points against Egypt in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations double-header in March, disclosing that the North Africans are no longer as good as they used to be.

The former Eagles captain is hopeful that a decent preparation ahead of the games in Kaduna and Cairo would give his team a good chance of qualifying for the 2017 AFCON.

He said, “The Egyptian team is far from the one of four years ago. So our chances are bright.

“We just need to concentrate and try to win for Nigeria.”

The Egyptians had been dominant on the continent over the decades but have practically struggled in the last six years having failed to qualify for the AFCON within this period. They last featured in Angola 2010, where they beat Nigeria 3-1 in the group stage. The Nigerian team, which had been returning to fairly good times, dipped again soon after winning the 2013 AFCON, thus leaving both sides on virtually the same pedestal as the battle for Gabon 2017 continues.

The first leg originally billed for March 23 in Kaduna had been moved to the 26th – a move the coach believes will help the Eagles to prepare in a better fashion.

“Yes, it was my idea to ask for a slight shift to give us time to work,” he told The PUNCH on Tuesday.

But despite the Nigeria Football Federation’s announcement that the match will now be played on March 26, it seems the Egyptians are yet to come to terms with the new date as reports credited to the Egyptian FA suggest they have yet to be informed of the change by the Confederation of African Football.

Egypt Football Association claims it is not aware of any change and will go ahead with the initial plan to play the game on March 23.

“No official letters have been received yet regarding the Nigeria-Egypt game’s rescheduling and we’ll announce when we get confirmation,” EFA board member Ehab Lehitah told efa.com.eg.

“Egypt will start a training camp ahead of the qualifiers on February 23, four days before they play Burkina Faso in a friendly in Borg El-Arab Stadium, Alexandria.”

Nigeria are two points behind Egypt in Group G of the qualifiers.