Pressure gives the Egypt senior national team inspiration, according to coach Carlos Queiroz in the wake of his team’s triumph over Cote d’Ivoire.
The Pharaohs won 5-4 on penalties in Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 showdown against the Elephants.
With the score remaining 0-0 after extra time at the Japoma Stadium in Douala, the North Africans scaled through via kicks from the penalty spot – with Eric Bailly having his kick saved by goalkeeper Mohamed Abou-Gabal.
The seven-time African champions had suffered a setback as Mohamed El-Shennawy was forced off injured due to a hamstring injury.
Even at that, the Egyptians subdued the West Africans to book a place in the last eight of the ongoing tournament in Cameroon.
Revelling in his side’s victory, the former Real Madrid and Portugal manager stated that pressure ‘motivates’ the Pharaohs and inspires them to play ‘strongly’.
"We deserved to win during the normal time, but the biggest winner tonight is football," Queiroz told the media as per KingFut.com.
"Pressure gives us inspiration and motivates us to play strongly and please our people.
"I congratulate all the players, they fully deserve to reach the next stage.”
Meanwhile, super-sub Abou-Gabal has wished his teammate El-Shennawy a speedy recovery.
“I hope El-Shennawy recovers as soon as possible, I hope he can quickly return to the pitch,” he told the media.
“I’d like to congratulate the fans and the EFA, we kept fully focused throughout the whole game and we are aiming to win the tournament.
“All national team goalkeepers do their best to become better, what you see on the pitch is the result of that, if Sobhi or Gad played they’d be as good as well, we learn from each other.”
To reach the semi-finals, Egypt must negotiate their way past archrivals Morocco in a last-eight encounter scheduled for the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde.
Egypt are aiming to emerge as African champions for a record eighth time. Their last outing on home soil ended on a sour note after losing 1-0 to South Africa in the Round on 16 in Cairo.
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