Egypt to Play Nigeria Next March in a Friendly

Egypt will play Super Eagles of Nigeria on March 29 at a yet to be named venue, the Egyptian Football Federation announced.

The two will clash in a high profile international friendly, the 18th meeting between the continent’s bitter rivals. In the past 17 meetings so far, Egypt have prevailed eight times, lost 7 encounters and drawn the other five.

The match promises to be an entertaining one especially when both sides will use the game as part of their preparations towards the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals, which both teams have qualified.

Coach Javier Aguirre will be hopeful of defeating the West Africans at their own backyard to build his team’s winning mentality, two days after their final Afcon qualifying game against Niger.

Pharaohs sit in second place with 12 points in Group J of the qualifiers after rivals Tunisia (12), who top the group on head-to-head goal difference.

In their recent matches, Egypt crushed Niger 6-0, defeated eSwatini 4-1, and 2-0 home and away respectively and thrilled Tunisia 3-2 via a stoppage-time strike from Mohamed Salah.

On their side, Nigeria are topping Group E with 10 points and will face bottom-placed Seychelles in a dead rubber at home.

Super Eagles will be appearing at the Cup of Nations for the ‎first time since lifting the trophy in 2013.