Hilal says Egypt is good enough to host the World Cup

A solid infrastructure and passion for football are the two key elements in Egypt's bid to win the 2010 World Cup race, according to the country's sports minister.

South Africa are favourites to host the 2010 tournament, which Fifa has promised to Africa.

But Egypt's Youth and Sports Minister Ali el din Hilal claimed in an interview in Cairo that his nation had all the ingredients needed to host the world's biggest sporting event.

He said: "We have as good a chance as anybody else.

"We have people crazy about football, so we're sure of having packed stadiums."

He added that infrastructure built around the country's tourist industry and Egypt's proximity to Europe are other factors in favour of the most populous Arab country.

We have people crazy about football Ali el din Hilal Egypt's sports minister

Nigeria, Morocco, and Tunisia are the other countries bidding to stage the first World Cup finals on African soil.

Despite Fifa's opposition, Hilal said Egypt had not ruled out the idea of co-hosting the tournament with fellow Arab countries Morocco or Tunisia.

South Korea and Japan successfully co-hosted the 2002 finals.

"Will that (co-hosting) take place in 2010? I don't know. But we follow events and we keep our options open," said Hilal.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has already rejected a Nigeria plan to host the tournament with Ghana, Togo, Cameroon and Benin.

The bidding countries have until the end of September to complete their bid documents and submit them to FIFA.

"By that time we should have an accurate figure about costs, about revenues," said Hilal.