The road to South Africa will begin in a year’s time and it is highly unlikely that the Egyptian fans will bear any more slip-ups by their nation, which fallings usually come against Africa's minnows.

A 1-1 draw against Mauritania in the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifiers did little to quell the fears after the homesick Egypt looked rusty outside of their venue.

Hats off to Hassan Shehata's men for winning a record-breaking fifth African Cup in 2006, but the huge support by every single attendant at the Cairo International Stadium as well as the media's unfamiliar supportive coverage contributed to the achievement.

But these elements do not exist outside Egypt's borders.

As a consequence, we have to deal with all the negative conditions the national team face in different African countries, which include bad pitch, poor referring, high temperature, etc.

Egypt's last away triumph came in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers opener against Sudan three years ago and since then the fans witnessed nothing but disappointing results as the players were forced to watch Germany's showpiece on TV.

The Pharaohs' hopes in the qualification campaign were mainly demolished due to the negative away results against the likes of minnows Benin and Libya, although Egypt managed to comfortably overcome them at home.

Although Egypt's squad currently includes a host of stars, the long-lasting problem neither disappeared nor alleviated.

An over confident approach by the players whenever they play against a below-par team is absolutely a decisive factor in these results as they think they can score anytime. However, the situation always turns out to be an embarrassing one.

They have to realize that the road to glory depends on positive results against small teams not the powerhouses.