EGY - A new chapter for Egypt towards Spain 2014

ABIDJAN (AfroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Egypt's men's national team head coach Amr Aboul Kheir is a man of strong convictions and loyal to his designed plan of making his country successful in two years time.

A week before AfroBasket 2013 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, he predicted a big moment for his talented young player Assem Marei, he highlighted his team's determination and spirit of competiveness, and avoided to self-declare a title contender.

On Saturday 31 August, his predictions and convictions worked out like magic.

Egypt claimed one of the three places on offer for African teams to qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup as they finished second following a 57-40 defeat to Angola in the AfroBasket Final.

Marei finished as the tournament's top-rebounder and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Egypt showed great resolve as they recovered from a win-less run in the Preliminary Round to cause a lot of damage in the Final-Round by eliminating defending champions Tunisia, Cape Verde and Senegal to reach the Championship Game.

"For everything we have been through in recent months and weeks, I must only admit that we deserve the opportunity to compete in the World Cup in Spain," Aboul Kheir told FIBA.com.

"We had the youngest team in the tournament. And these young players have been victims of the political situation in our country because we could not practice as we planned, but they showed big determination, we succeed, and here we are on the way to Spain."

By the time Egypt start their Spain 2014 campaign, it will be Aboul Kheir's second time at FIBA's flagship event as he played for Egypt at the 1990 FIBA World Championship in Argentina where they squared off against the host nation, the former Soviet Union, Angola, Canada, Spain, Venezuela, China and Korea.

Despite his international experience, Aboul Kheir - the son of the late Fouad Aboul kheir, the last head coach to have won an African title for Egypt - keeps his feet on the ground.

"I maintain my position that this team will only be ready for the Africa title contention from 2015 when we will compete for a place in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics," he said.

And this is why he is not disappointed with his team's performance in Abidjan.

"Yes, Angola was a deserving winner of tournament as they were the most consistent team throughout the competition," he explained.

"Now, we just need to start getting ready for the World Cup, and I am sure, by then, these players will become even better.

"We finished second in Abidjan, this is s plus for us. It is encouraging for us to keep working and move forward."

FIBA