Sports / Soccer
Egypt sink battling Zimbabwe Warriors
27 Mar 2013 at 07:02hrs | Views
Egypt 2 - 1 Zimbabwe
A LATE penalty conceded by Zimbabwe denied a gutsy Warriors a share of the spoils in a World Cup qualifier played at the Borg Al Arab Stadium here last night.
Egypt scored their opener through Hosny AbdRabo in the 64th minute with Mohamed Aboutrika making it 2-1 in the 86th minute - both goals coming from set pieces. Zimbabwe had equalised through Knowledge Musona with a world class strike in between the Egyptians' goals.
It was an exciting match in which the Warriors matched the more experienced Egyptians in all facets of the game with goalkeeper Washington Arubi putting up a top drawer performance.
Zimbabwe will cry foul to some extent that a penalty call in the first half was ignored by Senegalese referee Badora Diatta when an Egyptian defender appeared to use his hand to block the ball under pressure from Khama Billiat.
With the win, Egypt took their points' tally to nine while Zimbabwe remained glued to the bottom of the log with just a point.
Zimbabwe started strongly carving open the home team rearguard despite tame efforts at goal by Egyptians after 52 seconds and the fourth minute which appeared miscued crosses.
Denver Mukamba came to the end of a Knowledge Musona pass in the ninth minute and his effort sailed wide. He was to gain possession seconds later in a promising position on the right but hit the side netting.
In the 11th minute, another beautiful build up saw Archieford Gutu fail to pull the trigger as the boys played with more positive intent.
The Warriors continued to give their all in all departments with some good play in midfield where their passing game was a delight to watch in the opening 30 minutes.
Gutu had his fullbloodied freekick going wide in the 30th minute.
In the 31st minute Abbas Amidu's cross was blocked by Wael Gomma with Musona ready for the kill.
Hosny AbdRabo had his header crashing against the bar after rising high over the static centreback pairing of Lincoln Zvasiya and Augustine Mbara. The rebound was cleared to safety as the boys fought on to keep the team's interest in the World Cup qualifiers.
Arubi had a number off his line interventions that denied the Egyptians and was called to the rescue in the 42nd minute parrying for a corner a dipping low shot soon after a tricky bounce to the near post.
In the 44th, minute Mbara rose high for a Zimbabwe corner and his nodded down effort missed the upright.
It was a promising 45 minutes with the boys giving it their all. They defended in numbers and went forward like a pack of hunting dogs that has not had a decent meal in a while.
The vociferous crowd of about 10 000 could not dampen the spirits of the committed young Zimbabweans who with better precision could have enjoyed a deserved halftime lead for their evening's toil.
Mohamed Aboutrika headed wide in the 46th minute and 30 seconds later Arubi targeted with lasers to his eyes by the Pharaohs' fans as Egypt readied for a freekick. The hosts did a poor job of the controversial freekick after second assistant Serign Toure had raised his flag for a freekick.
In the 53rd minute Amidu had his near post shot saved by the Egyptian goalkeeper AbdelWahed Elsayed.
Egypt got a chance in the 64th minute after a Zimbabwe defender handled outside the box and up stepped AbdRabo to bend the ball beyond the wall and goalkeeper Arubi could just have a finger tip to it on its way to the back of the net.
On 68 minutes Aboutrika shot wide with another Egyptian chance crashing against the woodwork a minute later leaving Zimbabweans to defend another time.
On 74 minutes Musona got the better of Gomaa and let off a stinger that beat the goalkeeper by sheer speed and power to renew the Warriors' interest in the tournament.
Arubi pulled two consecutive saves in the 79th minute punching one for a corner.
Mbara turned villain in the 86th minute failing to cut off a defence splitting pass and then bringing down Mohamed Salah. Aboutrika then beat Arubi with a low shot to the left. The stadium erupted in excitement as the game looked as good as over with the Egyptians seemingly not content with a narrow margin win. They passed the ball around hoping to carve open the Zimbabwean defence.
Zimbabwe could have done better with a gritty player in midfield and their passes lacked ball speed with several intercepted by the opposition.
In the second half leftback Ocean Mushure and Partson Jaure struggled to contend with the sleek Egyptians on the offensive.
With security worries high, there was a heavy police and army presence in the stadium.
Teams
Zimbabwe
Washington Arubi, Partson Jaure, Ocean Mushure, Augustine Mbara, Licoln Zvasiya, Archieford Gutu, Abbas Amidu (R Mutuma 57th minute), Denver Mukamba, Silas Songani (Ovidy Karuru 58th minute), Khama Billiat (T Rusike 81st minute), Knowledge Musona
Egypt
AbdelWahed ElSayed, Ahmed ElMuhamady, Wael Gomaa, Mohamed Naguib, Ahmed Shedid, Hosny AbdRabo, Mohamed Elneny, Mohamed Aboutrika, Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Nagy Geddo (A Gaafar 81st minute
Match officials
Badora Diatta, Djibril Camara, Serign Toure
Log Standings
Team MP W D L GF GA Pts
Egypt 3 3 0 0 7 3 9
Guinea 3 1 1 1 3 3 4
Mozambique 3 0 2 1 0 2 2
Zimbabwe 3 0 1 2 3 1 1
A LATE penalty conceded by Zimbabwe denied a gutsy Warriors a share of the spoils in a World Cup qualifier played at the Borg Al Arab Stadium here last night.
Egypt scored their opener through Hosny AbdRabo in the 64th minute with Mohamed Aboutrika making it 2-1 in the 86th minute - both goals coming from set pieces. Zimbabwe had equalised through Knowledge Musona with a world class strike in between the Egyptians' goals.
It was an exciting match in which the Warriors matched the more experienced Egyptians in all facets of the game with goalkeeper Washington Arubi putting up a top drawer performance.
Zimbabwe will cry foul to some extent that a penalty call in the first half was ignored by Senegalese referee Badora Diatta when an Egyptian defender appeared to use his hand to block the ball under pressure from Khama Billiat.
With the win, Egypt took their points' tally to nine while Zimbabwe remained glued to the bottom of the log with just a point.
Zimbabwe started strongly carving open the home team rearguard despite tame efforts at goal by Egyptians after 52 seconds and the fourth minute which appeared miscued crosses.
Denver Mukamba came to the end of a Knowledge Musona pass in the ninth minute and his effort sailed wide. He was to gain possession seconds later in a promising position on the right but hit the side netting.
In the 11th minute, another beautiful build up saw Archieford Gutu fail to pull the trigger as the boys played with more positive intent.
The Warriors continued to give their all in all departments with some good play in midfield where their passing game was a delight to watch in the opening 30 minutes.
Gutu had his fullbloodied freekick going wide in the 30th minute.
In the 31st minute Abbas Amidu's cross was blocked by Wael Gomma with Musona ready for the kill.
Hosny AbdRabo had his header crashing against the bar after rising high over the static centreback pairing of Lincoln Zvasiya and Augustine Mbara. The rebound was cleared to safety as the boys fought on to keep the team's interest in the World Cup qualifiers.
Arubi had a number off his line interventions that denied the Egyptians and was called to the rescue in the 42nd minute parrying for a corner a dipping low shot soon after a tricky bounce to the near post.
In the 44th, minute Mbara rose high for a Zimbabwe corner and his nodded down effort missed the upright.
It was a promising 45 minutes with the boys giving it their all. They defended in numbers and went forward like a pack of hunting dogs that has not had a decent meal in a while.
The vociferous crowd of about 10 000 could not dampen the spirits of the committed young Zimbabweans who with better precision could have enjoyed a deserved halftime lead for their evening's toil.
Mohamed Aboutrika headed wide in the 46th minute and 30 seconds later Arubi targeted with lasers to his eyes by the Pharaohs' fans as Egypt readied for a freekick. The hosts did a poor job of the controversial freekick after second assistant Serign Toure had raised his flag for a freekick.
In the 53rd minute Amidu had his near post shot saved by the Egyptian goalkeeper AbdelWahed Elsayed.
Egypt got a chance in the 64th minute after a Zimbabwe defender handled outside the box and up stepped AbdRabo to bend the ball beyond the wall and goalkeeper Arubi could just have a finger tip to it on its way to the back of the net.
On 68 minutes Aboutrika shot wide with another Egyptian chance crashing against the woodwork a minute later leaving Zimbabweans to defend another time.
On 74 minutes Musona got the better of Gomaa and let off a stinger that beat the goalkeeper by sheer speed and power to renew the Warriors' interest in the tournament.
Arubi pulled two consecutive saves in the 79th minute punching one for a corner.
Mbara turned villain in the 86th minute failing to cut off a defence splitting pass and then bringing down Mohamed Salah. Aboutrika then beat Arubi with a low shot to the left. The stadium erupted in excitement as the game looked as good as over with the Egyptians seemingly not content with a narrow margin win. They passed the ball around hoping to carve open the Zimbabwean defence.
Zimbabwe could have done better with a gritty player in midfield and their passes lacked ball speed with several intercepted by the opposition.
In the second half leftback Ocean Mushure and Partson Jaure struggled to contend with the sleek Egyptians on the offensive.
With security worries high, there was a heavy police and army presence in the stadium.
Teams
Zimbabwe
Washington Arubi, Partson Jaure, Ocean Mushure, Augustine Mbara, Licoln Zvasiya, Archieford Gutu, Abbas Amidu (R Mutuma 57th minute), Denver Mukamba, Silas Songani (Ovidy Karuru 58th minute), Khama Billiat (T Rusike 81st minute), Knowledge Musona
Egypt
AbdelWahed ElSayed, Ahmed ElMuhamady, Wael Gomaa, Mohamed Naguib, Ahmed Shedid, Hosny AbdRabo, Mohamed Elneny, Mohamed Aboutrika, Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Nagy Geddo (A Gaafar 81st minute
Match officials
Badora Diatta, Djibril Camara, Serign Toure
Log Standings
Team MP W D L GF GA Pts
Egypt 3 3 0 0 7 3 9
Guinea 3 1 1 1 3 3 4
Mozambique 3 0 2 1 0 2 2
Zimbabwe 3 0 1 2 3 1 1
Source - TH
