Egypt coach Hector Cuper believes that the Pharaohs were lucky to snatch the late equaliser against Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers, and vows to amend the mistakes ahead of Tuesday’s second test.

“I can’t deny that we were lucky to score the equaliser against Nigeria, but it was a reward for our performance through the whole match,” Cuper told Egyptian reporters after the match.

AS Roma winger Mohamed Salah netted in stoppage time on Friday night as Egypt secured a precious 1-1 draw away to Nigeria that kept them at the top of their group in the qualifiers.

The valuable draw put Egypt in a comfortable position before they host the Super Eagles in the second of a double-header at Alexandria’s Borg El-Arab Stadium on Tuesday.

“Nigeria is a strong team with excellent players who have a winning mentality as they play for big European clubs,” Argentinean boss Cuper explained.

“We delivered an outstanding performance in the first half, but we had some faults in the second and we didn’t maintain the same level.