Soccer
Egypt want SA date postponed
2011-02-21 08:48
Johannebsurg - Egypt want a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa during March postponed until mid-year because of recent political upheaval that led to President Hosni Mubarak being toppled.
The record seven-time winners of the premier Pan-African national team competition are scheduled to play the Group G leaders at an unannounced South African venue over the March 25-27 weekend.
But the political drama in the North African country has prevented any top-flight domestic football being staged for several weeks and a friendly against the United States in Cairo on February 9 was also cancelled.
"The team must have suffered a dip in form after the league was halted so we want to put off the game with South Africa," assistant national coach Hamada Sedki told the respected filgoal.com website.
"We will send a letter to CAF (Confederation of African Football) on Wednesday. We will ask them to play the game in June should they accept our request," he added.
Seeking a fourth consecutive title after final victories in Cairo, Accra and Luanda, Egypt have made a poor start to the elimination phase with a home draw against Sierra Leone followed by a shock loss away to Niger.
South Africa top the table with four points, Niger have three, Sierra Leone two and Egypt one with only the group winners guaranteed a place at the 2012 finals to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.