Egypt's Taha anxious to experience home court advantage in World Cup Qualifiers

ALEXANDRIA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers) - Born and bred in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria, Mohamed Taha commonly known as "Mido" is yearning to feel the goosebumps that come with playing in front of the home crowd during the June/July the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers' window. 

Standing at 6ft1in (1.85m), Taha belongs to the youthful fraction of an emerging Egyptian side that is eyeing a place at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China and sitting second in Group C with two wins and a loss so far in the African Qualifiers has created a sense of hope in the side. 

With their seven points in the bag, the Egyptians know that playing in front of their home fans will paint them with a fear factor like they saw with Angola in Luanda last month. 

"IF WE PLAY THE WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS HERE, IT WILL BE AN AMAZING ATMOSPHERE TO EXPERIENCE. SEEING MY FAMILY IN THE STANDS WILL BE FANTASTIC." - Taha

Taha, who has featured for El Ittihad Alexandria for 14 of his 21 years is more than the basketball face in his home town. He is also the representation of Alexandria on the national team along with center Haytham Khalifa and shooting guard Youssef Aboushousha. 

Taha told FIBA.basketball exclusively that, "I am so excited that in June 2018 we shall play at home. When I look back at how much the Angolan team were motivated when they played in Luanda, I want to experience the same thing."

"I was born in Alexandria and the people here love basketball. If we play the World Cup Qualifiers here, it will be an amazing atmosphere to experience. Seeing my family in the stands will be fantastic."

"We want to win all the three games. We must win. We are a good team and we love each other. We have a good coach and I believe that playing at home will give us an added advantage," Taha pointed out.

PLAYING IN THE FIBA BASKETBALL WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS HAS GIVEN ME A LOT MORE CONFIDENCE AND I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT I AM ON THE TEAM NEXT YEAR." - Taha

Egypt are looking to return to the big stage for the second time since the turn of the century but they find themselves in the "Group of Death" along with 11-time record African champions Angola, a young and spirited Moroccan side as well as an emerging force to reckon with in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

"This is a very tough group with very experienced teams. Angola is the best team in Africa and Morocco is also very good. DR Congo also play very good basketball. It is difficult but we have to do our best and win."

"Playing in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers has given me a lot more confidence and I want to do everything I can to make sure that I am on the team next year and fight to qualify for the World Cup. It will be a dream come true to play at such a big stage," Taha said.

The experience from when Egypt featured at the Spain showpiece in 2014 is expected to come in handy during this qualification campaign that has head coach Amr Aboul kheir bringing out the best in his side. 

Under FIBA's New Competition System, the African Qualifiers for China 2019 will be played in two stages. The top three teams from each of the four groups (A, B, C and D) in the first round will advance to the decisive 12-team second round. 

The 12 qualified teams are divided in two groups (E and F) of 6 teams each.

The first legs of the Second-Round tournament take place during the fourth window (September 10-18, 2018), with the return legs to follow during the fifth window (November 26-December 4, 2018) and the sixth window (February 20-28, 2019).

The top two teams from groups E and F and the best third-ranked team will secure their tickets for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.

FIBA