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Amr
Zaki ended his goal drought and made the difference
in the first half of the match versus Zambia. However,
this didn't help the Pharaohs as they failed to captialize
on their lead and allowed the guest team to equalize
in the 2nd half to in the game in a disppointing draw
on the road to World Cup.
it seems that playing on World Cup will remain as a
wild dream for the Egyptian Football supporters. This
is not only due to Egypt's poor result and display at
home versus Zambia, but due to a general lack of quality
to play at this level as well.
Teams which qualify to World Cup have
to win all their home matches and some of their away
ones as well. However, will this be the case of the
Pharaohs? So far, we wasted a couple of points in a
disappointing home draw. Another poor display in Algeria
in June could mean the end of the road for the Pharaohs
early on.
Zambia simply played their own game and
the Egyptian midfield looked like as if they were chasing
shadows. The Zambians were quick, they won the ball
in all situations, in duels they won the ball from Egyptian
midfield, by interception, they also won the ball, by
pressing on the ball holder, they won the ball, in the
air, they won the ball offensively by scoring their
goal and defensively as well.
Selection was far from being perfect,
as the left flank looked rusty without a left footed
midfielder or left back. Barakat is not a left sided
player and also Ahmed Fathy. Both couldn't be used to
their full potential because of their poor placement
on the field.
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In addition to this, Emad Meteb was clearly not suitable for
the match, he can't win headers or play under pressure. He
also couldn't take good positions to score and so, it was
obvious from the start that Mido would be the ideal player
for this match as his aerial ability would have given the
team more chances to score from Mohammadi's crosses.
In midfield, Shawky should have started alongside
Hosny Abd Raboh from the start as the latter has the ability
to score from distance\e who could prove vital in these tight
matches.
Giving away possession was the magic word for
the Egyptian team. All the players made schoolboy mistakes
by losing possession to Zambian players which allowed them
to start very dangerous counter attacks.
In attack, Amr Zaki did well for the most part.
Meteb was nonexistent as said before while Zidan showed glimpses
of class in the first half and started to fade in the 2nd.
It may have been better if he started as a 2nd striker behind
Zaki while Abotreka played the role of the support man from
the start.
In the end, it was another poor start in World
Cup qualifiers. This will put much pressure on the Pharaohs
in the upcoming games especially in the away matches as losing
would cause alot of troubles.
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