Mohammed Zidan, who scored Egypt’s only goal and the opener in the match, says that momentarily loss of concentration cost them the match against England warning African teams going to the World Cup to be weary of their European counterparts.
“We played a team with depth and understanding. It was a tough act for us having gone through the Nations Cup and build a team with character, we wanted a good game,” said the Egyptian mercurial striker.
“The early goal might have given us little guarantee and we relaxed hoping that the match was under control. They came from behind to whip us. We’ve learnt bitter lessons. It’s a lesson our African brothers going to the World Cup should learn too,” he added
The Pharaohs shot into the lead through Mohammed Zidan in the 23rd minute. Zidan picked a ball near the halfway line, got past a defender and struck past Rob Green for the opener. Their fluid plays made English fans jeered their team and the Egyptians. The first half ended 1-0.
However, England improved in the second half and equalised in the 57 minutes. Gareth Barry delivered the ball in the penalty area and Peter Crouch side-footed it home at the first post.
The first goal served as a tonic to the three Lions, as they turned on the heat on their visitors and went on to take the lead in the 75th minute, as keeper Al-Hadari initially parried a shot from James Milner but could not prevent that Shaun Wright-Phillips scored on the rebound.
The game was all but decided five minutes later. Crouch appeared to be offside when receiving a pass from Wright-Phillips, but was allowed to go on and netted the home team’s third of the night, 3-1.
England will meet the United States in their first group game on June 12, and face Algeria and Slovenia in the following matches. Egypt failed to qualify for the World Cup.