The Egypt U-20 national team secured the North African qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana, finishing at the top of the competition ahead of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, which guarantees their qualification for the African finals, alongside Morocco, who finished second in the tournament.
The tournament showcased the brilliance of coach Wael Riad, who proved his competence by outperforming his North African counterparts, collecting 9 points from 3 victories over Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria, while the team suffered one defeat against Morocco, who ended up with 7 points in second place.
The competition was intense and exciting thanks to the new system adopted by CAF for the African qualifiers, but Wael Riad implemented a well-thought-out plan and held long training camps in Cairo and Ismailia, which included intensive meetings with his coaching staff, Sherif Abdel Fadil, general coach Ahmed Raouf, goalkeeper coach Mohamed Abdel Monsef, and fitness coach Qassem Qadri, along with continuous sessions to ensure the players' health with the medical staff, which includes team doctor Heged Al-Anatbly and physiotherapy consultant Dr. Salah Ashour, in addition to ongoing preparations to meet the team's needs from active team manager Mahmoud Harb and media coordinator Zaghloul Siyam. When plans are clear, goals are defined, and roles are well-distributed, the results reflect positively, boosting the morale of a new generation of players who aspire to achieve African, global, and Olympic successes.
When the system is professional, player selections can be made with distinction, as we discovered a large number of talents who will play a role in the national teams in the coming years, including: promising goalkeeper Omar Abdel Aziz, Mohamed Hamad, Mahmoud Salah, Mohamed Haitham, Nour Ashraf, Iyad Medhat, Mohamed Awad, Mohannad Al-Shami, Kunta, Younes Al-Malah, Omar Al-Azab, Mahmoud Salah, Iyad Tamer, Yassin Atef, Anas Rushdi, Mohamed Abdel Basir, Mohamed Raafat, Omar Amin, Ali Al-Garahi, Mohamed Farag, and Adham Karim.
Wael Riad is considered a promising coach reminiscent of the early days of Shawky Gharib, the current coach of the Football Association, who achieved successes with youth teams. With a bit of focus and control over the players in the upcoming period, and keeping them away from arrogance and the spotlight, we can achieve great accomplishments with the national U-20 team.
