CAIRO - The Pharaohs may still be in contention for a place in next year’s World Cup, but coach Hassan Shehata has admitted they did not play like African champions even in their precious 1-0 victory away in Zambia on Saturday.

A second-half strike by Hosny Abd-Rabou earned Egypt full marks and they are now on the same 10 points as Group Three leaders Algeria, who host bottom team Rwanda later Sunday.

However, Shehata, who guided Egypt to back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations victory in 2006 and 2008, admitted it was far from a perfect performance by his team.

"Yes we defeated Zambia, but we will not turn a blind eye to our mistakes,” Shehata told Egyptian Radio after the game. "We were not at our best in the first half. The African champions should play much better.”

Egypt hardly moved the ball around due to the bad state of the Konkola Stadium pitch so much so that they often played the long ball, leaving striker Amr Zaki all alone upfront.

Ends