World Cup 2018: Egypt assistant coach thinks current Ghana stronger than 2013 team

Egypt’s national team assistant coach Osama Nabih says his side expects a tougher clash with Ghana because the current Black Stars the team is stronger than the squad that thrashed the Pharaohs 6-1 three years ago.

Ghana will play Egypt in Group E of the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia which has sparked concerns for the Egyptians.

That's because the Black Stars thrashed the Pharoahs 6-1 in the first leg of the qualifiers for the previous World Cup and Ghana edged past the Egyptians 7-3 on aggregate.

The 2013 squad that defeated the Egyptians featured some of Ghana's legendary players like Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Since then the squad has changed to younger players in the Ghana squad who are not internationally recognized as Essien's generation.

Egypt's squad has transformed since then with players like Ramadan Sobhi and Mohammed Salah showing more technique than before.

Despite these obvious changes, Osama Nabih believes the Black Stars are in a stronger position than the team that defeated them massively.

“Ghana are no longer the same team that faced Egypt in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, they have developed and became stronger, thanks to their foreign-based players,” Osama Nabih said in televised statements.

Ghana will start their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign at home when they host Uganda early in October, while their second game will be against Egypt in Cairo.

They will then play Congo away and home, respectively, before hosting travelling to Uganda in their fifth match. The Black Stars will end their group matches with a home game against Egypt.