Egypt ready to play ugly against Ghana for qualification – El Hadary

Experienced Egypt shot stopper Essam El Hadary has hinted the Pharaohs will be ready to play ugly against the Black Stars to secure qualification instead of putting up a good show.

The Pharaohs displayed a not-too-good performance against the Cranes of Uganda but a late strike by Abdallah El-Said kept their hopes alive in the competition.

And the 44-year old insists that it is better to win matches and secure points than to play well and lose.

“Winning and qualifying to the next round are more important than the performance,” El-Hadary told beIN Sports satellite channel after the Uganda game.

The most experienced player at the tournament then lauded his team mates for the win over Uganda and said Ghana is next.

“I want to thank all the players for their performance in today’s match despite the poor state of the pitch,” the 44-year-old keeper said.

“We’ve an important game against Ghana in three days and we hope to secure qualification to the next round,” he added.

Egypt are second behind Ghana with four points and are hoping for a win over the Black Stars to top the group heading into the next stage of the competition.