Egypt ends its curse and Australia on penalties

The Egyptian team reached the round of 16 of the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada this Friday after beating Australia in the penalty shootout (2-4), after the match ended 1-1 after 120 minutes of play, a victory that allows the Pharaohs to get among the 16 best teams in a World Cup for the second time in their history.

From the penalty spot and ending a streak of four consecutive eliminations from 11 meters, Egypt reached the round of 16 of a World Cup for the second time in its history. A victory that also marks the first victory for the African giant in a knockout round in the World Cup. Mistakes by Harry Souttar and Lucas Herrington allowed Hossan Abdelmaguid to score the decisive goal. Before, Mahmoud Saber, Rami Rabia and Mohamed Salah had also converted their shots.

Previously, the match ended in a draw (1-1) after 120 minutes of play, in which Egypt took the lead with an Emam Ashour goal in the first quarter of an hour, but Australia would equalize with an own goal by Mohamed Hany in the early stages of the second half.

The first chance of the game would not take five minutes to arrive, when the Australian midfielder Volpato received it in the vicinity of the area, turned and sent a left foot shot that crashed into the goal defended by Shobeir. And the staging of the Oceanic team is more convincing than that of the Africans, who could barely set foot on rival playing fields, with Salah and Masmoush missing.

Thus, it would take Egypt almost a quarter of an hour to have its first shot. However, the effectiveness of the pharaohs would be impeccable. A free kick by Ashour would trigger a second play that ended with a measured cross from Karim Hafez, which found Ashour himself at the far post, who beat Beach with a header to put Egypt ahead on the scoreboard, scoring his second goal of the tournament.

The goal would see Australia completely take the initiative of the game, with the Egyptian team comfortable defending in a low block. And the thing is that the ‘Aussies’, beyond bringing together players in the last third of the field, were only able to test Shobeir with shots from outside the area, all of them safely solved by the Al-Ahly goalkeeper. Which would allow Egypt to go ahead at half-time.

And the second half would start with a forced change, due to injury, in Australia, which brought on Trewin instead of Bos in the left-handed lane. A change that seemed to confuse the Australians, who saw how Marmoush stood up in the first play after the restart in a one-on-one against Beach, but the City attacker tried to adjust his shot too much, which grazed the stump of the right post of the goal.

But that first chance would be an oasis for Egypt in the first few minutes of the second half with a much more purposeful Australia, who sought an equalizer based on lateral crosses. And so it would come. In the 55th minute, a lateral foul by O’Neill would end in an own goal by Mohamed Hany. Deserved draw for the oceanic team that had taken control of the duel.

With the tie, the match entered into a dynamic of fighting for each ball and little clairvoyance, evoking the outcome of the tie in extra time or the ‘luck’ of penalties. In fact, there would be hardly any dangerous approaches to the areas by the two teams, beyond a save by Beach in stoppage time to a header by Rabia after a magnificent cross by Salah.

Extra time began with Egypt following the dynamic at the end of the game, and Salah would be the first to try his luck with a shot that went over the crossbar. However, the hopeful beginning would gradually fade, with physical fatigue weighing more than quality. And so, the eighth finalist would be decided in the penalty shootout, but not before Australian coach Popovic introduced Levante goalkeeper Mathew Ryan onto the field.

And the shootout began with a miss by Souttar for Australia, which allowed Egypt to catch with Saber’s goal. Irvine and Mabil would also convert their pitches for the ‘Aussies’ and Rabia and Salah, panenka-style, for the Pharaohs consecutively. And on the fourth shot, Herrington would send his penalty to the crossbar, giving Abdelmaguid the opportunity to put Egypt in the round of 16 of a World Cup for the second time in history. And the defender would not fail.

TECHNICAL SHEET.

–RESULT: AUSTRALIA, 1 – EGYPT, 1 (0-1, at half-time, 1-1 at the end of the match and 2-4 on penalties).

–ALIGNMENTS:

AUSTRALIA: Beach (Ryan, min.119); Bose (Trewin, min.46), Circati, Souttar, Herrington, Behich; Irvine, O’Neill (Okon-Craftsman, min.91); Volpato (Hrustic, min.74), Metcalfe (Mabil, min.91); and Irankunda (Tower, min.74).

EGIPTO: Shobeir; Hany, Ibrahim, Rabia, Hafez (Trezeguet, min. 80); Attia (Saber, min. 120+1), Fathy (Abdelmaguid, min. 67), Ashour; Salah, Ziko (Hassan, min. 67) and Marmoush (Abdelkarim, min. 106).

–GOALS.

0-1, minute 13: Ashour.

1-1, minute 55: Hany (pp)

–PENALTIES.

0-0: Souttar fall.

0-1: Saber.

1-1: Irvine.

1-2: Rabia.

2-2: Buy.

2-3: Salah.

2-3: Herrington falla.

2-4: Abdelmaguid.

–REFEREE: Gustavo Tejera (URU). He cautioned Hassan (min.105) and Ibrahim (min.120) for Egypt.

–STADIUM: AT&T Stadium in Dallas (United States).