Mustafa Shobier, the goalkeeper of the Egyptian national team, expressed his great happiness with what the Pharaohs presented during the World Cup, confirming that the goal was not just to settle for an honorable appearance.
Shobier said in his statements via MBC Egypt: "Certainly, I am very happy with the state that the Egyptian public has reached, and we agreed from the beginning not to settle for just an honorable performance, but we wanted to reach the farthest possible point in the tournament, and we wanted to raise the ceiling of ambitions".
He added: "The goalkeeper position is extremely difficult, and I was keen not to make any mistake, so I had to maintain my focus at all times".
He spoke about the requirements of a goalkeeper in modern football, saying: "Modern football relies heavily on the goalkeeper's ability to play with his feet, and this is a very important matter that many top coaches like Pep Guardiola rely on because it affects the style of play, in addition to the importance of the goalkeeper having a good reading of matches".
Shobier reveals the nature of his relationship with Mohamed El-Shenawy
Regarding his relationship with Mohamed El-Shenawy, Shobier said: "People always think there are disagreements between goalkeepers due to competing for one position, but Mohamed El-Shenawy is one of the best goalkeepers in Egypt's history, and he has made great contributions with Al-Ahly and the national team".
He continued: "My relationship with him is very good, even more than excellent, and he used to give me a lot of technical and other advice. Competing with him is a very good feeling, and he always trains as if he will play in the matches, and this is what I learned from him, to have a fixed routine and maintain the same focus in training".
He also touched on the rotation policy among goalkeepers, saying: "The rotation system for goalkeepers is not the best thing, and we experienced this in Al-Ahly for a period, it was not easy for me or for El-Shenawy, but we overcame that in the end and we did everything we could to participate and for the benefit of the team".
Regarding the national team's journey in the tournament, he explained: "The match against Iran was extremely difficult because they were playing to win and qualify, and the last five minutes were extremely difficult".
He continued: "Before facing Australia, we talked a lot about how to deal with the height of the opposing players, especially in set pieces, and we were constantly communicating on the field during the match".
He concluded his speech by praising his teammate Mohamed Hany, saying: "Mohamed Hany presented a very distinguished level in the tournament, I did not know that he was the scorer of our goal against Belgium until after the match, but in the next match I saw him put the ball in our goal, and in the end, victory always makes everyone overcome such matters".
