Egypt is through to the Round of 16 after defeating Australia in a dramatic penalty shootout on Friday night, July 3, marking a historic first World Cup knockout-round win for the Pharaohs.
The match finished 1-1 after 120 minutes, with Egypt prevailing 4-2 on penalties. Egypt opened the scoring in the 13th minute through a brilliant header from Emam Ashour, who snuck behind the Australian defense and powerfully directed the ball into the bottom left corner.
Aussie keeper Patrick Beach was left helpless due to the sheer quality of the cross from Karim Hafez, as the Australian defense looked unprepared to deal with the threat. Ashour could not stop smiling after the goal, and television cameras caught him still grinning minutes later at scoring in a World Cup knockout match.
As the half wore on, the Aussies grew into the game and were arguably the team more in control by the time the whistle blew for halftime.
Egypt tried to alter that momentum at the start of the second half when Omar Marmoush came within inches of doubling his team’s lead off the opening kickoff. The Pharaohs did eventually put the ball into the back of the net, but it was to their own chagrin.
Off an Australian set piece in the 55th minute, Aiden O’Neill sent a ball into the Egyptian box that took a deflection off the head of Mohamed Hany and went past Mostafa Shobeir, providing the equalizer for Australia.
The game settled into a stalemate over the next half hour as both teams created opportunities, but neither side managed a clear-cut shot to break the deadlock.The Aussies began breaking the game open with just minutes left to play, while the Egyptians answered by earning their first corner of the game as the second half entered stoppage time.
The save of the match arrived just two minutes before the end of full time when Egypt’s Ramy Rabia got his head on a cross into the Australian box. It appeared to be goal-bound for a late heartbreaker until Beach soared into the air and got a hand on the ball, tipping it over the bar for a corner kick that ultimately came to nothing.
Beach’s vital intervention kept the game on level terms as extra time loomed. Egypt had one final chance on the last kick of regular time as the ball fell to Marwan Attia in the middle of the box, but his shot aimed for the far post was blocked by a defender.That sent the match into 30 extra minutes to settle things.
The first 15-minute period of extra time offered little action, as both teams seemed unwilling to take significant risks.In the second half of extra time, Egypt pushed hard for a winner and held the ball deep in the Socceroos’ half to avoid penalties.
That pressure allowed the Australians to take advantage of the numbers game, causing the match to open back up.Despite the late activity, no goals were found and the teams prepared for a shootout.
With one minute left in extra time, Beach was substituted in favor of goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, who entered as a penalty specialist.In the shootout, the Egyptians took an early lead after Mahmoud Saber blasted the ball past Ryan following an initial Australian miss.
Jackson Irvine calmly put his penalty into the top right corner to give Australia hope, before Ramy Rabia restored Egypt’s advantage with a composed strike. Awer Mabil stepped up next for Australia and slotted his penalty home before Mohamed Salah walked up for Egypt.
Salah cheekily went down the middle with Ryan unable to block, making it 3-2 to Egypt and piling pressure onto Australia. Lucas Herrington was next up for Australia and sent his shot against the crossbar, opening the door for an Egyptian victory.Hossam Abdelmaguid stepped up with the chance to win it and buried his strike into the bottom left corner to secure the historic advancement.
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