U-17 World Cup: Egypt coach Ahmed El Kass delighted with opening win

Egypt U-17 Boys team coach Ahmed El Kass has revealed two reasons why he was impressed with the team’s outcome in their 202s U-17 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday.

The Young Pharaohs made a triumphant return to the competition for the first time since a 2-1 quarter-final loss to Xavi and Spain in 1997.

Belal Attia, Abdelaziz Elzoghby and Hamza Abdelkarim all sparkled and scored for Ahmed Elkass’s side, while Nikolai Pierre’s sumptuous curler gave Haiti hope before the break. Egypt’s victory was sealed when Omar Kamal headed home a devilish Attia delivery.

El Kass says they made Egyptian people happy

“I am very happy with the result today for two reasons: first we have always had slow starts in past tournaments, and also because we feel that we have made the Egyptian people happy – both here and at home,” he told FIFA.com.

The win enabled the Young Pharaohs to take control of Group E with three points, the same as Venezuela, who are second.

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast forward Hubert Yao was happy to score his first goal despite suffering a 4-1 opening defeat against Switzerland in Group F fixture. Captain Gil Zufferey opened the scoring for the winners when he tried his luck from long range with a dipping strike that evaded opposing skipper Christ Kouassi.

Adrien Llukes doubled the advantage before the interval, following up to convert after his own penalty had been saved by the unfortunate Kouassi. Giacomo Koloto was released to calmly convert the third, with Jill Stiel smashing home a spectacular fourth before Hubert Yao’s consolation for the African side.

“It’s a pleasure to score my first World Cup goal. There were plenty of positives at times and we managed to create plenty of chances but weren’t clinical enough,” he said.

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