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Egypt vs Zimbabwe Prediction & Betting tips
The 32nd edition of the Africa Cup starts in Cairo on Friday evening. The host country Egypt starts with a home match against Zimbabwe and later also in the tournament also encounters the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The opening match against Zimbabwe should not normally be a problem for tournament favorite Egypt.
Egypt:
Since it was not Egypt but Cameroon who acted as host country for the 2019 Africa Cup, Egypt, like all other countries, had to qualify for the tournament through qualifying matches. In a group with Tunisia, Niger and Eswatini, Egypt ended fairly easily behind Tunisia, which eventually gained two points more than The Pharaohs. During the qualifying matches, we have not really been able to see what this Egypt has to offer, because the 6-0 win over Niger and the 4-1 win over Eswatini in the qualifying group is not an ideal indicator of what Egypt is waiting for during the Africa Cup state.
Last year’s world championship in Russia is. In a group with Uruguay, Russia and Saudi Arabia, however, Egypt did not take a single point. All the more striking that Egypt is seen by bookmakers as the top favorite for winning the Africa Cup. Yet that can still be explained: star player Mohamed Salah was not completely fit in Russia and is now. In addition, the home advantage also plays a major role for Egypt, which has put everything in place to bring the tournament to its own country.
The pressure is certainly huge for national coach Javier Aguirre and his men. All of Egypt expects the national team to win the African Cup for a while this summer, but countries can also collapse under that pressure. Of course the best example is Brazil in 2014, which was also under enormous pressure during the organization of the World Cup in its own country. With boys like Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Ahmed Elmohamady (Astona Villa) and Ahmed Hegazi (West Bromwich Albion), Egypt has four players who play football in the Premier League or the Championship, but of the the remaining nineteen players do not play one in a top European competition. That may well become a problem for Mexican coach Aguirre, who is criticized in Egypt for his offensive playing style.
Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe is preparing for the fourth African Cup participation in history. Zimbabwe was also there two years ago and then, just like in 2004 and 2006, the country stranded in the group stage of the tournament. Since in 2019 no less than sixteen of the 24 countries will continue to the knockout phase, Zimbabwe can sometimes make history in Egypt. Then The Warriors will have to end above Uganda, because the expectation is that Egypt and the Democratic Republic are a size too big for Zimbabwe.
The current number 109 of the FIFA world ranking qualified in a handsome way for this African Cup. In a group with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Congo, Zimbabwe was pretty first. With the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe will meet an old acquaintance in the last group match. In that respect it is striking that the bookmakers do not see Zimbabwe but the Democratic Republic of Congo as a big favorite to end in Egypt behind group A.
In preparation for the Africa Cup, Zimbabwe was also active in the COSAFA Cup at the beginning of this month, a tournament for countries from the South of Africa. Zimbabwe was eliminated two weeks ago by later tournament winner Zambia. Just like during the qualification and at the COSAFA Cup, it is expected that The Warriors will also play on the counter during the African Cup. A player to watch out for at Zimbabwe is Khama Billiat. He is called the Ronaldo of Zimbabwe, although that is mainly because the former player of Ajax Cape Town cheers in the same way as CR7. In terms of scoring power, the midfielder has a lot less of the Portuguese superstar – Billiat scored only five times this season in 26 games.
Egypt vs Zimbabwe head to head matches
09.06.13 WC Zimbabwe Egypt 2 : 4
26.03.13 WC Egypt Zimbabwe 2 : 1
04.01.06 FI Egypt Zimbabwe 2 : 0
25.01.04 ACN Zimbabwe Egypt 1 : 2
14.04.93 WC Egypt Zimbabwe 0 : 0