The coach of the senior national team of Sudan Hubert Velud has given his opinion on the draws for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations which placed his team in group D alongside Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea Bissau.
He reckoned the game against Egypt will be like a derby game and he see them alongside Nigeria as the two teams with a realistic chance of winning the tournament.
“The draw is very difficult. We will face Egypt and Nigeria, who are two of the candidates to win the title, in my opinion.
“Guinea-Bissau is also a young and good team, and they have always been in the tournament in recent years,” he added.
“Our confrontation with Egypt will be awaited by the Sudanese people, and the Egyptian people, because it is my path between brothers.”
Speaking further in an interview on Filgol.com, the Frenchman said his team will first of all aim to win their first game against Guinea Bissau as their aim is to skip the group stages.
Our ambition is to skip the group stage and get far in the tournament, but we have to win first against Guinea-Bissau and then we’ll see what happens”.
On plans to strengthen his squad before the start of the tournament, the coach said he has some players he is trying to convince to switch allegiance to the team, top of which is former Germany youth international Hany Mukhtar who now plays in the MLS for Nashville SC.
“We have some players abroad that we are trying to convince them to represent the national team, such as Hani Mukhtar (a Sudanese father and a German mother, and he plays for the Nashville team in America), and we are in advanced discussions with him and we hope that an agreement will be reached soon.”
