New Delhi: They will go into the tournament here as the minnows, but may end up the surprise package.
A practice match against Asian powerhouse South Korea XI at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium gave an insight into the Egyptian U-21 team's potential and preparedness for the Junior Men's Hockey World Cup, that gets under way here on Friday.
They dominated proceedings, tearing apart the Korean defence repeatedly before winning 4-3.
But Egypt head coach Ali Shorbagy is reluctant to read too much into the result.
“It's just a practice match. But during the tournament, maybe it will be different. It will be much more difficult, so we have to be ready for it,“ he said on the sidelines on Wednesday.
“Our team is young, with three of them being just 16. In the run-up to the event, we went to Malaysia for a training camp for 10 days. Some members of the team were also part of the recent senior African Cup of Nations in Nairobi.
“So I hope that experience will come handy here,“. Egypt made the cut with a second place finish at the 2012 Junior African Cup of Nations in Randburg, South Africa.
Focusing on the upcoming 16-nation tournament, Shorbagy felt that a topfour finish would be too high a target for his team.
“Our target is to finish in the top 7-9. Finishing in the top-four looks tough considering the top nations participating here.“
OVERCOMING BARRIERS Egypt has gone through political and social tensions in the recent past, but Shorbagy said hockey had managed to sustain itself due to the love of the game among the masses besides support from the government.
“Our players are from all parts of Egypt mostly from Cairo, some from Alexandrea etc. But thanks to the support of the government and our federation, that we are able to find grounds to practice without any hassle.
“Hockey is the fourth ranked sport in Egypt.
Around 10,000 to 15,000 among 90 million people play the game, which is more than squash. But squash, which has stars like Ramy Ashour and Mohammed El Shorbay, have managed to attract sponsors.“
The coach said money comes to hockey players only when they win tournaments.
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