Egypt coach Rui Vitoria praised his team’s resilience after they battled back from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw against Ghana in their Group B match at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Abidjan on Thursday.
Mohammed Kudus blasted in to put Ghana ahead in first-half stoppage time, a minute after Pharaohs captain Mohamed Salah was forced off through injury. However, his replacement Omar Marmoush leveled the scores shortly afterwards.
Kudus put Ghana ahead again with a deflected effort, but Mostafa Mohamed scored late on to ensure that Egypt earned a point.
Speaking after the game, Vitoria expressed his pride in his team’s fighting spirit. “I have full confidence in my team, I saw men this evening who fought to the end, only victory eluded us. We showed great qualities this evening against a revitalized Ghana. The players applied our instructions perfectly. There was room to win the match,” he said.
When asked about Salah’s injury, Vitoria admitted that he was concerned but declined to comment further. “At the moment, I cannot comment on the seriousness of his injury. Of course, we are worried and we hope it is not too serious. We will have to keep the same state of mind for the next match against Cape Verde,” he added.