Mo Salah scored for Egypt in the 67th minute on a give-and-go inside the box to give his country the deciding goal in its first-ever World Cup victory, 3-1 over New Zealand at BC Place in Vancouver, rocketing them to the top of table in Group G, sitting at four points.
New Zealand scored first, shocking the Egyptians on a strike by Finn Surmann in the 15th minute. Egypt struggled to match the intensity of the All Whites in the first half, ce3ding the better of play.
It was a completely different second half. Egypt controlled play, consistently working the ball into the finishing third and creating good scoring chances, but only seven of the 19 shot attempts were on frame. Five, though, came in the second half, and Mostafa Ziko knotted the match in the 58th minute with a nice header off a quality cross into the box by Mohamed Hany.
Salah followed nine minutes later and he assisted on the third goal, a diving header by Trézéguet just seven minutes after he subbed in. New Zealand managed one opportunity to narrow the gap but failed to finish, dropping them to bottom of table with one point.
• Iran and Belgium both sit at two points int he table after a draw at nil. Belgium was down a man for the final 30 minutes after center back Nathan Ngoy was red-carded for hauling down an Iranian player from behind, who was going to run in free on goal. It will all come down to final group matches — Belgium v. New Zealand; Egypt v. Iran — with none having clinched or been eliminated.
• Spain dominated Saudi Arabia, 4-0, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. The shot advantage was ... 29 to 3. Lamine Yamal scored the eventual game-winner in the 10th minute, the first career World Cup goal for the 18-year-old sensation. Three spots are still up for grab in the Group H table, Spain is top at four points. Cape Verde and Uruguay sit at two points each. Saudi Arabia is practically eliminated, needing at least a five-goal win over Cape Verde in the final match and a Uruguay draw or loss to Spain.
My take: It's exciting ot see multiple groups being decided in their final matches. Some dud matches Sunday, but Egypt–New Zealand had some quality and Cape Verde–Uruguay stole the show.
THE ASYLUM
Egypt gets first-ever win
Mo Salah scored for Egypt in the 67th minute on a give-and-go inside the box to give his country the deciding goal in its first-ever World Cup victory, 3-1 over New Zealand at BC Place in Vancouver, rocketing them to the top of table in Group G, sitting at four points.
New Zealand scored first, shocking the Egyptians on a strike by Finn Surmann in the 15th minute. Egypt struggled to match the intensity of the All Whites in the first half, ce3ding the better of play.
It was a completely different second half. Egypt controlled play, consistently working the ball into the finishing third and creating good scoring chances, but only seven of the 19 shot attempts were on frame. Five, though, came in the second half, and Mostafa Ziko knotted the match in the 58th minute with a nice header off a quality cross into the box by Mohamed Hany.
Salah followed nine minutes later and he assisted on the third goal, a diving header by Trézéguet just seven minutes after he subbed in. New Zealand managed one opportunity to narrow the gap but failed to finish, dropping them to bottom of table with one point.
• Iran and Belgium both sit at two points int he table after a draw at nil. Belgium was down a man for the final 30 minutes after center back Nathan Ngoy was red-carded for hauling down an Iranian player from behind, who was going to run in free on goal. It will all come down to final group matches — Belgium v. New Zealand; Egypt v. Iran — with none having clinched or been eliminated.
• Spain dominated Saudi Arabia, 4-0, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. The shot advantage was ... 29 to 3. Lamine Yamal scored the eventual game-winner in the 10th minute, the first career World Cup goal for the 18-year-old sensation. Three spots are still up for grab in the Group H table, Spain is top at four points. Cape Verde and Uruguay sit at two points each. Saudi Arabia is practically eliminated, needing at least a five-goal win over Cape Verde in the final match and a Uruguay draw or loss to Spain.
My take: It's exciting ot see multiple groups being decided in their final matches. Some dud matches Sunday, but Egypt–New Zealand had some quality and Cape Verde–Uruguay stole the show.
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