Kofi Owusu Aduonum
6 July 2009
A 25-member contingent of the Egyptian national male hockey team last Saturday evening zoomed into the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) from Egypt, ahead of the hockey championship to be hosted by Ghana.
Ranked second in Africa, the 18 players and seven team officials disembarked from an Egypt Air plane some few minutes after 11pm, looking very sharp and ready for the hockey tournament.
The head coach of the side, Abdul Ahmed, a former national team player did not hesitate to reveal his tyeam's combat readiness, saying "We are here to win, of course South Africa remain our only headache, not forgetting Ghana, who I hear returned from Holland not long ago".
"We have inched closer to South Africa in recent times, and the daunting nature of the competition notwithstanding, we believe we will lift the cup," added Coach Ahmed.
Further interrogation revealed that the team, like their Ghanaian counterparts, pitched camp in Malaysia as part of their preparation for the championship.
And reacting to the benefit of the pre-tournament tour, the coach pointed out that: "It has really revitalized the team because we played hockey elite teams from India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Malaysia among others, it was really a good exercise."
Led by a motorcade, the team was driven to their Alisa Hotel base at North Ridge in Accra.
They were met on arrival by some members of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) on Protocol, accommodation as well as high-powered delegation of the Egyptian Embassy.
The Egyptian national female team and Nigerian female team are expected to arrive tomorrow for the hockey showpiece.
The competition is scheduled to bully off from July 10 to 18, at the newly constructed hockey stadium in Accra.
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