Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - Coach Hassan Chéhata of the Egyptian team made a public apology for the draw the Pharaohs conceded to Morocco Tuesday, and promised to make progress and put up a better performance against Côte d'Ivoire.

"I understand the public's sadness because we all wanted this victory, but we were not lucky enough, especially when we remember the opportunities missed by Ahmed Fathi, Emad Meteab and Amr Zaki," he said.

But noted that "the draw was not a very bad result".

Coach Chéhata also expressed great confidence in his players before the next game between the Pharaohs and the Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire on Saturday: "We are going to play to get the three points of the game and be the leader of the group. I am sure of the quality of my team and even if we end at the second place, we will be ready to get to grips with Cameroon in the quarterfinal as we do not fear them at all".

Egypt occupies the second place of group A with 4 points, 2 points behind Côte d'Ivoire.