Bradley points Egypt in right direction

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Jun 11, 2012

[WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFYING] Bob Bradley's Egypt is one of only two teams to start out with two wins in the semifinal round of World Cup 2014 qualifying in Africa, and the former U.S. national team coach said he was proud of his players' resilience, given the difficult conditions in Egypt.

The Pharaohs improved to 2-0-0 with a 3-2 win at Guinea, which Bradley called "an important step towards a better future."

Veteran Mohamed Abou Treika led Egypt with two goals, and it got the third from youngster Mohamed Salah.

"In the first half," said Bradley, "the players were slow, but they picked up speed in the second half, creating many chances and finding the back of the net three times. I am very happy with this win. The team were playing away from home in front of a capacity crowd of 35,000 Guinea fans, but we managed to win and now top the group."

Egypt opened with a 2-0 win over Mozambique behind closed doors in Alexandria.

'We made several mistakes in the Mozambique game," Bradley said. "We avoided those mistakes against Guinea."

World Cup 2014 qualifying doesn't resume until March 2013, but Egypt returns to action on Friday and the Central Africa Republic behind closed doors in qualifying for the 2013 African Cup of Nations.

This game will also be played in an empty stadium at Alexandria's Borg el-Arab Stadium.