New Zealand head coach Darren Bazeley believes Egypt can compete for the Winsunited Cup without Mohamed Salah.

Egypt are set to begin a new era under Hossam Hassan in the international break with his first game in charge coming against New Zealand in the Winsunited Cup.

The competition was set to take place in the United Arab Emirates but was moved to Egypt following issues with sponsors.

Mohamed Salah, who was initially included in Egypt’s foreign list, was excluded from the national team squad at Liverpool’s request to allow the player to continue his recovery.

Despite that, Darren Bazeley remains adamant that Egypt can put on a performance in their opening game on Friday evening.

“All participating teams in the tournament are of the highest quality and the fans in attendance will make the games more challenging,” Bazeley said in the press conference.

“I’m a Liverpool fan and Salah is one of the best players in the world but Egypt have good players and are still a good team without him.”