Posted in News on Mar 16, 2011.
Khune who was called up by South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane to be part of the 24 man squad who will take on the Egyptians at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next Saturday does not feel that the recent popular uprising in Egypt would have had a negative effect on their preparations for the game.
Speaking to kaizerchiefs.com Khune said “they were involved in the Nile basin tournament which ended in mid January since November while Bafana have played two games they have been involved in seven.
The recent political change in Egypt in my view will not have an impact in my opinion on their preparations their clubs are back in African Club competition Al Ahly will be playing against SuperSport Unite this week.”
Khune believes that the professional approach of the Egyptians will mean that they will be fully prepared for the clash, “so we should not think that they will be coming here lacking match fitness, we know that we have a lot of work to do in preparation for this game and we have to look at what we need to do to win the game and not focus so much on the challenges in a football sense that the Egyptian team could encounter.”
Egypt who have won the last three additions of the African Nations Cup will be arriving in Johannesburg on Sunday a full six days ahead of the game and Khune believes that is an indication that they are serious about the game.
“Egypt are coming here early to prepare for the game so that they can acclimatize to the conditions, they know the conditions in Johannesburg well they have played at Ellis Park before and they beat Egypt there during the Confederations Cup two years ago.
It won’t be an easy game we are at home and we have a good team we were the hosts of the World Cup and we have that experience to draw from for this game, as well as the fact that we have so many of our guys in good form. We know the team we are up against but we are positive.”
