CAIRO — Egypt’s soccer federation said on Sunday that the country’s national team will meet Portugal and Bulgaria in friendly games as part of preparations for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The federation said in a statement that Egypt will play Portugal on March 23 and Bulgaria four days later, with both matches to take place in Zurich, Switzerland. Egypt, returning to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years, opens its World Cup campaign against Uruguay on June 15 before it takes on host Russia on the 19th of the same month. “Bulgaria, on the other hand, is close to how the Russians play in terms of tactics.”“But what the Egyptians need the most is to play football superpowers like Germany or Brazil. Still, the Portugal friendly will likely pose a useful test for the Egyptian defence in the form of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s most prolific scorers.

Source: National Post December 17, 2017 11:28 UTC