Egypt's Khalifa: 'This is My House', It is not just words. It is more than that

CAIRO (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers) - With tears in their eyes, they kissed the court and celebrated with so much joy in front of their fans because Egypt had secured a place in the Second Round of the African Qualifiers. 

The road to this level has not been all rosy for Amr Abouelkhir's side even though they were at home. If anything, it piled pressure on them that they lost their opening two games against Democratic Republic of Congo 77-63 before falling to Angola 65-58. 

Haytham Khalifa explained that this bad start was due to the pressure of playing on home court.

"We had too much pressure because this is the first FIBA tournament hosted in Egypt since FIBA AfroBasket 2003 in Alexandria. It was a long time since we played in front of that big number of fans and for some reason out of our hands, we did not prepare well for these games as we have some players that were injured," Khalifa said. 

However, Khalifa and his teammates found themselves between a rock and a hard place needing a victory against arch-rivals Morocco in their last game.

"THIS FORMAT HAS REALLY GIVEN ALL THE TEAMS A GOOD CHANCE TO PLAY AT THE WORLD CUP. IT IS ALSO GIVING BASKETBALL A PLATFORM TO SPREAD THE GAME IN AFRICA. IT MAKES IT A GOOD PLAN." -Khalifa

"We just said - "This is My House". It is not just words. It is more than that. So we are going to do whatever it takes to go to the next round. Let us play our basketball and make these fans happy. They deserve the best. Most of our fans were coming from Alexandria every day to support us."

Khalifa, who plays for Ittihad Alexandria in his hometown, understands exactly what these fans were going through because they drove three hours to Cairo and another three back home for three straight days to support Egypt and their son of the soil. 

It was this sacrifice that broke Khalifa and his other teammates when they failed to deliver victory first against the Leopards and then Angola. It was a disaster in their dressing room filled with tears of sorrow and deep regret for their failure. 

However, they had to pick themselves up on both occasions and promise to leave everything on that court for a place at the table of men in Group E. 

 
Egypt sit in fourth place with nine points carried from their Group C matches where they won three games out of six and find themselves behind the unbeaten table leaders Tunisia with 12 points as well as Cameroon and Angola who have 10 apiece. 

"We still have six more games. We are getting ready from now on as a team and hopefully, we can enjoy that. We are going to play and try to win all our next games. We can. Yes, we can do it. I really want to go back to the World Cup again," the 6ft9in (2.07m) center explained.

Egypt made their debut appearance at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014 in Spain and it is the fond memories that as a 26-year old playing at such a stage, Khalifa wants to return now as a man with experience ready to conquer the world. 

"It was one of my dreams when I was a kid to play at the World Cup. It is an honor to be the reason that people respect your country and stand up for the national anthem."

Four years ago, Egypt qualified as the finalist of the FIBA AfroBasket 2013 in Cote d'Ivoire but the new format is a longer route for the Pharaohs. 

"This format has really given all the teams a good chance to play at the World Cup. It is also giving basketball a platform to spread the game in Africa. It makes it a good plan."

In the September 14-16 window when the Second Round tips off, Egypt will take on Chad, Tunisia, and Cameroon before knowing their fate in the November 30 - December 2 window when they play return legs. 

The top two sides from Group E and Group F, as well as the third best placed side, will make up the list of five teams from Africa that will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. 

FIBA