Yesterday saw Egypt take on Rwanda in a must win game for Egypt if they would have any chance of qualifying for next years' World Cup. As the pole here suggested no one really knew what to expect from this game. Egypt are well renowned for buckling away from home and they were up against a team that hasn't lost a game at home for two years, until yesterday that is.
It is common knowledge to people who know me that I'm not a fan of Hassan Shehata, I am a fan of Egypt however and there is a huge distinction. I may not agree with his tactical choices and selection but by god if he takes us to the World Cup I'll be waving a flag and calling his name. Yesterday we got some hope back by beating Rwanda 1-0 and we are joint top of our qualification group with Algeria pending their game tonight versus Zambia, pressure is on them now. The game was a confusing and boring affair with neither team really threatening but what one could tell Egypt wanted it more. The contest was settled by Egyptian Captain Ahmed Hassan midway through the second half after a goal mouth scramble. The Eagle was the best player on the field although he seemed to run out of gas completely in the second half, that tells you much about his team mates. Egypt were missing alot of key players, alot of offensive options to be exact. Zaki, Meteb and AbuTrieka were all missing due to injury. Mido was unfit and Zidan had personal issues with Shehata. As a result Egypt had to field the 5th, 6th and 7th choice strikers. Honestly they are not up to par but hats off to them for giving it a go in the game, especially Dodi El Gabbas who put in a real fighting effort.
The Egyptian team overall was very poor except for the back three of Hany Said, Gomaa and Ocka. However they were never really tested. Hadary was average and made two decent saves although he messed up a back pass and looked very weak in handling crosses. It would do us good to start grooming a replacement. The midfield was a joke. Shawky was in a different planet and the lack of first team football must be affecting him while Abd Rabo was a ghost of his former self and frankly should not start for Egypt anymore. Him playing in a very weak league (Emirates League) has definitely contributed to his poor form. It would do us better to play Fathi in midfield as the poor lad can't cross a ball to save his life and playing him in the right wing back position makes him and us look foolish. Mohamady could be played there instead although he is known for his defensive frailties. There would be no better time to call up Hossam Ashour to fill this void in midfield. The boy puts his head down and plays football and has been doing that consistently for the past 4 or so years. Ghaly is another option although I'm not sure about him. The only breath of fresh air for Egypt was Barakat. He has proved once again that he is a player for the big occasions and having him in the squad as a starter or a sub will always add an exciting dimension to the team going forward. Negatives aside, it was a good win away from home, a win which we needed and that we got even though we were missing alot of key players. For once we showed that we are tough enough to play poorly and get the three points. Hopefully this can be a foundation to build on the remaining two games although winning them might still not be enough due to goal difference. Why were we wasting time against a hopeless Rwanda towards the end? Didn't the coach and players know that one more goal might have been just what the doctor ordered? I hope we don't live to regret this.
The best thing in the game was the referee, albeit a few mistakes here and there, but the worse was definitely ART commentator Essam Abdo (apologies if that's not his name). This guy talked nonsense through out the game it was frankly distracting. At one point he suggested that 17,000 people from the London and the whole of England proceeded to Birmingham to watch the game? Really? is this guy for real? The only place in the UK were you can watch this bloody game is Birmingham of all places! He seems to forget that one underground station from Oxford street he can go about and watch possibly El Gouna take on Mansheyet Nasser in Edgewar Road!!! He wasn't done there he was almost crying like a baby and calling the referee unfair cause of four added minutes of injury time, grow up will you Mr. Abdo, we are playing Rwanda and not Brazil. What really bugged me though was how he was portraying the game in a religious context. He kept insisting that please god since we were fasting and since this was Ramadan we must win and comments like that throughout the game. Mr. Abdo seems to forget that half the team from Rwanda were Muslims too, and that football was a sport and has nothing to do with religious beliefs. And like a famous sports writer in EL Masry EL Yome once said that if praying and fasting were the criteria for winning games and not skill then the Taliban would win the World Cup and dominate the Olympics!!!!
Cote D'Ivoire officially qualified yesterday after a 5-0 mauling of Burkina Faso. Cameroon found itself in a tough spot and beat group leaders Gabon away 2-0. This is the toughness we were always lacking and possibly might have found in Rwanda of all places. However don't be surprised if we lose it once again in Zambia.
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