AFCON 2021: "We Had Too Much Respect For Nigeria" - El-Shennawy

AFCON 2021: "We Had Too Much Respect For Nigeria" - El-Shennawy Sampson Adedeji Pharaoh of Egypt goalkeeper Mohammed El-Shennawy has said they gave too much respect to Nigeria's Super Eagles and It cost them in the end, BSNsports.com.ng can report. The game between the two sides ended 1-0 in favour of Super Eagles with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring the only goal of the match. In his post match reaction Al Ahly goalkeeper said they played poorly in the first half and that allowed the Nigeria side to win the match. " The result is disappointing, to the players, coaching staff, and the fans. During the first half, we couldn’t rise to the occasion, but the second half saw some improvement as we wasted a few chances. We had a lot of respect for Nigeria, but that backfired on us, being too focused on defence was the reason we conceded the goal. We’ll focus on the future now, we only played one game of the tournament. “Everyone is to blame today, we made mistakes and it wasn’t our lucky day, but we promise you improvement in the future," he said. The defeat marked Egypt’s first AFCON opener one since 2002 when they lost to Senegal 1-0 and their first group-stage defeat when they fell against Algeria in Tunisia.