Pharaohs Line Up Ghana Warm-Up

Egypt have lined up an international friendly against Ghana in the New Year as both countries gear up for the grinding task ahead of them.

In a statement from the Ghana Football Association (GFA), the Pharaohs have requested to play the Black Stars at the Cairo International Stadium on February 11.

Both countries want to sharpen their arsenals before the start of the final of the joint 2010 Nations Cup/World Cup qualifiers in March next year.

Egypt will also be contesting the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa during June 2009.

Ghana play the Squirrels of Benin at home and Egypt also engage Zambia.

"We have two countries on board and we are considering their offers. Egypt are interested but a deal has not been sealed yet," GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi told Ghanasoccernet.com.

The draw for the final round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations gave Egypt what many would consider to be the best of the five group draws.

The African champions will face Algeria, Zambia and Rwanda in Group C as they attempt to reach their third World Cup finals.

The 20 African nations remaining were drawn into five groups of four teams each.

The five group winners qualify directly for the 2010 World Cup finals, while the first three in each group will go to Angola to contest the Africa Cup of Nations in the same year.

Hosts South Africa qualify for the World Cup automatically, but were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations at the first group stage of qualifying. The final round of qualifying matches will begin in March 2009.

Although the Pharaohs have won the Nations Cup a record six times, the North African country have only qualified for the World Cup twice and the last time was 18 years ago.

Amavubi's Croatian born coach, Tucak knows that his side is an underdog in group C, and while the chances of staging an upset are real slim, Rwandans would be dreaming of a miracle.

Having failed to qualify for the last two Nations Cup finals, Rwanda must finish inside the top three in Group C to qualify for the 2010 Nations Cup finals in Angola.