Egypt say they are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to win the Africa Women’s Nations Cup as they stepped up preparations for the tournament with a friendly against Zimbabwe in Harare on Tuesday.

Egypt coach Abdelatif Emam told SportsZone that the friendly match against Zimbabwe will give them a test of character because of Mighty Warriors’ rising stock.

“Zimbabwe has been on the rise in the past few years as evidenced by their qualification for the Olympics. We have great respect for Zimbabwe and that is the reason why we chose to play against them as part of our preparations,” said Emam.

Emam says it was interesting that they will be facing the Mighty Warriors again in Cameroon where they have been drawn in the same group.

“It doesn’t matter that we have been drawn against them for the Africa finals, we are going to field our best team for the friendly match. What we need to do is to test the strength of our best team. Even if Zimbabwe is going to read our game plan, we will also study theirs. Our football is on the rise because our junior teams have all qualified for the continental tournaments.”

Egypt who are making a return to the continental showpiece have been drawn in group A against Zimbabwe, hosts Cameroon and South Africa.

Holders and record nine time winners Nigeria are in group B with Kenya, Mali and Ghana.

The tournament will be played in Cameroon from 19 November to 3 December 2016.

Group A: Cameroon, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Kenya