"We are a better and more experienced team now," says Egypt's new coach Aboul Kheir

CAIRO (FIBA AfroBasket 2017) - Four years after leading Egypt to a Second-Place at FIBA AfroBasket 2013, former Olympian Amr Aboul Kheir is back at the helm of the Pharaohs. 

The man who replaced Juan Orenga - who led the team during the FIBA Africa Zone 5 qualifiers earlier this year - is working with 15 players in the build-up to the upcoming FIBA AfroBasket 2017 to be co-hosted by Senegal and Tunisia.

As Aboul Kheir admitted to FIBA.basketball that the team consists of locally-based players, he also insisted that they "are a better and more experienced team now" than four years ago when they took Abidjan by storm knocking down giants Senegal in the Semi-Final before stumbling to eventual champions Angola.

Egypt finished as runners-up to Angola at FIBA AfroBasket 2013 

"We have a good and prepared to face any team," he said.  

Egypt are expected to host FIBA AfroBasket 2017 bound Uganda on Tuesday. A week later, Aboul Kheir and his team will travel to Tunisia for a friendly against the hosts before taking off for Dakar, where they will play in Group D against Senegal, South Africa and Mozambique.  

"Senegal are a great team, one of the best in Africa, but we'll be prepared for them," Aboul Kheir explained.

He continued accessing their Group Phase opponents: "If you follow Mozambique team, they tend to play great basketball against big teams. They did so in the last African Championships. They could be tough to beat because the group of players has been playing together for many years, and the coach has been with the team for a long time,'' Kheir pointed out.

"Right now, we are trying to gather as much as information as possible about South Africa because we don't want to be caught off guard."  

While Aboul Kheir is expected to stay in charge for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 qualifiers starting in November, he insists that the "African Championship is the starting-point to qualify for China 2019."

This year's African Championship will run from September 8-16.

FIBA