Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports | Couldn't continue

After its disappointing defeat against the USA at the FIFA Confederations Cup, the Egyptian national team has its eyes focussed on the Rwanda World Cup qualifier on 5 July. Inas Mazhar reports from South Africa

Few would have believed Egypt would not make it to the semi-finals after its brilliant performances against the defending champions Brazil and the World Cup title holders Italy. Egypt narrowly lost to Brazil 4-3 and beat Italy 1-0.

Even South Africans who had been supporting the Egyptians all the way were disappointed by the sudden 3-0 loss to the US as was their media which believed that the pharaohs dynasty was on the rise again.

But the fact is that Egypt was playing this game suffering a lot of injuries; Mohamed Zidan with a first degree strain hamstring muscle, Sayed Moawaad with a twist in the knee and Ahmed Fathi suffering a twist to the ankle.

The African champions needed only one goal to qualify to the semi-finals. However, they couldn't. Instead, they came out with several injuries. Goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari was injured in the head during the first goal. Though he continued playing, he had six stitches following the game. Ahmed Fathi's injury got worse and was carried off by his colleagues to the dressing room. He had a knee injury which will need no less than six weeks of treatment which means he won't make it for the Rwanda game. Both Haras Al-Hedoud's Ahmed Abdel-Ghani and Ahmed Eid were injured as well.

"We didn't deserve to win after this performance," assistant coach Shawki Gharieb said in a post match press conference. "We played two tough games within four days against the five-time world champions Brazil and also Italy and we did a very good job. But today wasn't our day. We had injured players and the others were injured in the match. We had no other replacements so we lost. We also travelled extensively around South Africa's cities which was also exhausting.

"I believe it was a positive week here in this tournament in which we were playing for the second time in our history. We still managed to embarrass Brazil and Italy and show the world how much Egyptian football has progressed. Two of our players also managed to win the 'man of the match' award, Mohamed Zidan in the game against Brazil and Mohamed Homous in the match against Italy.

"And why blame us alone. Italy, the world champions didn't qualify. They lost twice like us. It wasn't our day in the game against the US just as it wasn't Italy's day when they played against us. This is football, and anything can happen," added Gharieb.

Though disappointed, head coach Hassan Shehata said the result could be in favour of the national team. "Now we can go back home and start our preparations for the World Cup qualifier which is more important. Before coming here we didn't say or promise we'll bring the cup home but said we are taking this opportunity to build up our preparations for the World Cup qualifications by playing against big teams.

"If we had qualified to the semi-finals it would have been a disaster against Spain. Most of our players are injured. Also we would have remained in South Africa one week more and played two more matches and returned on 29 June which would have given us only four days before we face Rwanda in Cairo on 5 July. Now, we have time to allow the players to rest and the injured to be treated before resuming our World Cup campaign," Shehata told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Shehata celebrated his 62nd birthday after their victory over Italy, and the veteran Egypt coach can toast the occasion in the knowledge that his side made history under his management. No African team had ever beaten Italy before Egypt brought I Azzurri's run of 12 wins and two draws against sides from the mother continent came to a sudden and dramatic halt.

El Hadari, outstanding in goal against Brazil and Italy, was distraught. "I am angry about the result," said the Switzerland- based keeper. "We played very well against Brazil and we beat Italy, but here we were not the same team. We failed to go through to the semi-finals by a one-goal margin. It's frustrating, but that's football and there's nothing you can do."

Gharieb also cited tiredness as the principal reason behind the 3-0 defeat. "The games against Brazil and Italy took their toll on the players and our performance was not up to the level to qualify for the next round. I would like to congratulate the US team, due to their pressure we couldn't play our normal game and had to resort to long balls. We came here to play well and win but our players were exhausted."

After Italy had gone 3-0 down to Brazil in Pretoria, Egypt were left needing just a single goal against the US to qualify on goal average, but that task proved frustratingly beyond them. Despite the disappointment Gharieb said it was vital now to galvanise the players ahead of their next World Cup qualifiers where they are seriously struggling.

"We have to make use of our time here to help us prepare for the World Cup qualifiers. Our time here will hopefully prepare the team for that campaign. Despite going out I'm quite happy as I think we can use this experience to qualify for next year's finals."

Italy, Egypt and USA endured a nerve-racking evening as Group B of the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 came to a thrilling conclusion on Sunday. At the end of it all the Americans were celebrating as they slipped into second place on goal difference to join section winners Brazil in the semi-finals.

At the start of the night that second qualification slot belonged to the Italians, but in the space of eight disastrous first- half minutes, I Azzurri conceded three goals to the South Americans to find themselves staring at an early and wholly unexpected elimination. It was the first time the Italians had trailed by as many goals at half-time since they went down 6- 1 to Yugoslavia in 1957, and despite an improved second-half performance, Marcello Lippi's side failed to reduce the deficit, exiting the tournament in disappointingly tame fashion.

The team best placed to benefit from Italy's heavy defeat was Egypt, third in the group at the start of their match with the USA, who were pointless after their opening two games. Yet the North Africans failed to seize their opportunity as Bob Bradley's men surprised them with a committed showing. Charlie Davies opened the way with an early goal, Michael Bradley added a second after a neat combination with Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey scored the all-important third with a header, a strike that took the Americans into second, leaving their opponents on the night and the Italians to rue their toothless performances.

Despite the loss, Egypt attracted the attention of all fans and experts. Their unity was behind their performance in the first two games.

"Amr Zaki and Hossam Mido are very important players in Egyptian football, big players," Mohamed Abou Treika, widely regarded as the best playmaker in African football, told FIFA.com about the high-profile, England-based duo. "But they are not here [Zaki is injured and Mido was left out]. The players we do have are the best in Egypt and the sense of unity in this team is something special, something rare in international football.

"We are not just a collection of very good individuals, but we are one... one team," added Abou Treika, beloved throughout Africa for his vision and languid creativity, before jogging over to a large crowd of locals in Maruleng to take the lead in an impromptu sing-song session, sign autographs, shake hands and pose, always smiling, for photographs.

The spirit of togetherness in the Egyptian camp is obvious from their understanding on the pitch, almost telepathic with Abou Treika dictating the patterns and pace. With only the USA standing between them and the semi-finals, the Pharaohs, with 19 of their 23 players from the domestic top flight, are banking on this seemingly unbreakable team ethic to see them through.

Off the pitch the spirit of togetherness is just as strong. The entire squad prays together five times a day -- the first, a dawn prayer at 5.30am. They play EA Sports FIFA 09 on Sony PlayStation (veteran Ahmed Hassan is rumoured to be the best) and pass the time in a regular backgammon tournament that began last year in Ghana when they beat the continent's best to earn their second consecutive African title.

"The spirit is hard to describe," said rarely used midfielder Mohamed Homous, a surprise inclusion at the start of the competition. "My teammates made me feel comfortable from the start," said the 29-year-old, one of five Ismaili players in the side. "They are the best players and the best people I know. Their support is unbelievable. I never feel out of place in the team because they treat me like I've been around for ages."

Shehata, who took over the reins in late 2004, is now the longest-serving coach in Egyptian national team history, and his presence in the technical area has acted to balance a side that, historically, has suffered from instability and inconsistency despite producing consistently talented players. He has had access to nearly his entire squad for over a year, and the resulting cohesiveness is exceptional among the teams here in South Africa.

Shehata, a former international, is not afraid to take chances either. He famously benched Mido in the 2006 African finals, and his replacement, Zaki, proved a revelation in their run to the title. Here in South Africa, he outraged the Egyptian media by replacing captain and all-time caps leader Hassan with the untested Homous against Italy. "When I saw my name in the starting line-up for the Italy game I was shaking with happiness," the player said. He repaid the manager's faith with an historic goal in the 40th minute. With the help of goalkeeper El-Hadari, the lone strike stood up in a slim 1-0 win. One of the first men up off the bench to embrace Homous after the final whistle was Hassan, visibly moved by his replacement's contributions.