Egypt down SA in Mandela Cup
Brad Morgan
16 November 2006
In a contest of distinct halves, Egypt put South Africa to the sword in the opening stanza, netting an early goal, then withstood a strong fightback in the second half to edge Bafana Bafana one-nil and claim the Mandela Cup at Griffin Park, home of English League One team Brentford, on Wednesday evening.
Matters went awry early on as South Africa were stunned in the third minute when Egyptian striker Emad Moteab ran onto a probing chipped pass from Ahmed Fathi before curling his shot into the top right corner of the net.
At sixes and sevens
With Fathi and Mohamed Aboutrika playing prominent roles, South Africa was at sixes and sevens trying to keep the Pharaohs from adding to their tally.
Moteab came close to grabbing a brace just after the quarter-hour mark, but his shot from close range, off a cross from Tottenham Hotspur's Hossam Ghaly, went over the bar.
South Africa had an opportunity to
level matters from a free kick shortly afterwards when Sibusiso Zuma was fouled, but Siphiwe Tshabalala's effort was knocked away by Egyptian net-minder Essam Al El Hadari, who, like SA goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez, enjoyed a good game in the last line of defence.
Fernandez to the rescue
After 23 minutes, it was Fernandez to the rescue as he first denied Amr Zaki's first-time shot, then prevented Moteab from capitalizing on the rebound with another good save.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, Fernandez again kept Zaki out, this time from a long-range effort that bounced just in front of the goalkeeper.
By the end of the half, it had been one-way traffic, with Egypt pulling the strings. However, after the interval, South Africa fought their way back into the match.
Tshabalala tested El Hadari with a powerful shot just before the midway point of the second period, but the goalie, recently named Player of the Tournament after Al
Ahly's triumph in the African Champions League, was up to the challenge.
Control of possession
Bafana Bafana, by this stage, had taken control of possession in the contest, but were struggling to find a cutting edge to their advantage.
Siyabonga Nomvete, on as a substitute, gave El Hadari something to think about after 70 minutes, but the Egyptian goalkeeper again came up trumps. Ten minutes later, Zuma tested him once more, with the result again in favour of the goalie.
With their one-nil victory, Egypt evened their record against South Africa, which now stands at four wins for each team and one draw.
The Pharoahs' goal was the first one conceded by Bafana Bafana in seven outings, but it was enough to see them lift the Nelson Mandela Challenge Trophy.
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