FOOTBALL – FOR all their dominance of African football, Egypt’s World Cup history has been underwhelming, so Friday’s success over Australia and progress to the last 16 will count among their finest hours.
Egypt had the better of the chances but were unable to beat Australia after two hours of football with the scores level at 1-1 before triumphing 4-2 in a penalty shootout.
It was their first success in a World Cup knockout game, which compares starkly with their record seven African Cup of Nations titles and distinguished role as pioneers of African soccer.
Egypt first went to the World Cup in 1934 – the next African country was Morocco in 1970 – but have qualified only three times since, and it was not until beating New Zealand 3-1 in Vancouver a fortnight ago that they achieved a win at the finals.
Now they are through to the last 16, in what Mohamed Salah termed a pivotal moment for the country. “I’m happy we wrote history today,” he said.
The crushing fear of defeat weighed heavily on both teams on Friday, leading to a cautious approach from both Australia and Egypt, although there were many goalscoring chances.
Egypt again set up with heavy reliance on defence.
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