Issue No. 596
Sports
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25 - 31 July 2002 Issue No. 596 Sports |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Silencing Uganda
In its first contender in the African Nations Youth Cup, Egypt silences Uganda. Abeer Anwar reports
It was an unexpected beginning, but one that was widely welcomed. At the Alexandria Stadium, the first match in the Egyptian Youth team rally towards the African Nations Cup took the crowds quite by surprise. In its first qualification match, the Egyptian team conquered the so-called "strong" Uganda 3-1.
Egyptian control of the ball while a Ugandan player is trying hard
"The players fell under panic after seeing such a great unexpected number of spectators who came to watch the team," Ibrahim Youssef, coach of the youth team, said. "In addition to that, it is the first contender for the team and they are still gaining experience and self- confidence."
Those elements, however, did little to stop them.
The Ugandans started the attack in the first half of the match not giving the Egyptians a chance to score and close the first half in their favour 1-0. The second half was a different story, with Hassan Shehata, the team's technical manager, making several key changes to turn the tables around. The Egyptian players gained confidence, and ground -- attacking harshly to score three successive goals by Emad Metab, the team's star. Uganda, on the other hand, made one too many futile trials, facing a stud of an Egyptian goalkeeper, Shadi El- Ma'mour who was the so- called savior of the match.
After stepping ahead 2-1, the players persisted with their attacking style to secure a third goal -- easing their upcoming task in the second leg match to be played in Uganda in two weeks' time.
After the match, Shehata said he was, "Very pleased with the team performance as it is their first experience. The players are talented and they have followed the plan."
Uganda, however, refused to take the loss with full- fledged grace.
"The Egyptian team has a number of good players but our team were good as well," Uganda's technical manager said. "We will be able to make up for our loss in Uganda and we will teach the Egyptians a harsh lesson abroad."
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