quarter-finals: Egypt -
Tunisia 0:1
This had been the situation
before the match:
In the World Cup qualification
for France 98 both were in the same group and Tunisia had the upper hand.
But Egypt is coming into this match with more confidence: they have won
their easier group by a clean sweep. Tunisia has struggled and needed the
help of Nigeria who shot them through in the final miuntes by beating Morocco
by two goals. An open match with a slim favorite in Egypt. They seem to
have more scoring weapons.
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Reuters:
Egypt: 1-Nader El Sayed;
2-Ibrahim Hassan, 4-Hani Ramzi, 5-Abdelzaher El Saqqa, 3-Mohamed Omara;
20-Hady Khashaba, 8-Yasser Radwan, 11-Tarek Said, 15-Ibrahim Said; 9-Hossam
Hassan, 19-Ahmed Salah Hosni
Tunisia - 1-Chokri El Ouaer;
2-Khaled Badra, 3-Sami Trabelsi, 15-Radji Jaidi, 17-Tarek Thabet; 8-Zoubier
Baya, 14-Sitajeddine Chihi, 12-Raouf Bouazaine, 18-Meher Kanzari; 20-Zied
Jaziri, 9-Ali Zitouni
1st half
-kick-off 1500h GMT
-('2) the referee (Alain
Sars, France) whistles the first challenges for small fouls (holding etc.)
-('8) Egypt: first threat
for the Tunisian defence by a Omara cross from the left. The attack had
been initiated at the right wing and he had perfectly and unmarked occupied
the opposite side waiting for the defended ball
-('11) Egypt: the Egyptian
corners look dangerous - thes second of the match finds #3 who heads it
wide right of the goal
Tunisia with more ball
posession, Egypt came closer to the goal yet, there seems to be some changing
winds, and Tunisia play with both: Kanzari and Baya, Sellmi out instead
-('16) Tunisia loses ball
in build-up and stops the Egyptian attack for a free-kick from the left
hand side. But Tunisians can defend against the cross and a following one
from the other side. Egypt occupies wings well.
-('18) same situation on
the other side when Jaziri is stopped for a dangerous free-kick cross ball
by Kanzari to be fisted away by the keeper - Tunisia is a tellm with wing
usage, too
-('18) Kanzari shot from
dangerous position far across the bar - could be that the referee had whistled
the scene off before anyway
-('20) Tunisia has to avoid
getting robbed of the ball in midifield build up - this time Egypt too
hastily squandered the counter opportunity
losing
-('22) penalty for Tunisia:
Said Ibrahim tackles for the ball, does not touch it and referee says he
has hit Baya who has fallen - Khaled Badra's low shot goes to the left
half of the goal while keeper goes for the other corner - 0:1
No clear chances in the
following minutes as the teams neutralize each other.
Jaziri has been treated
several times but plays on yet.
-('38'39) Suddenly both
keepers get tested, Hossam Hassan with a dangerous shot from difficult
angle and the Tunsians with a distance attempt after a counter attack
-('44) unusual untight marking
in the Tunisian penalty area and a cross finds Hosny who's header goes
wide and is almost reached by Hossam Hassan who instead hits the keeper
- but El Ouaer can play on without a problem
-('injury time) Badra with
a silly armblow to Hossam Hassans head while going for a header, but the
free kick of Yasser Radwan is successfully deflected by the wall
Halftime 0:1
Tunisia defends much better
against the well-spread Egyptian attack. They profit from a rare lead against
the Egyptians thanks to a penalty. Otherwise most likely there had been
no goal at all. Now it will be difficult for Egypt but they have indicated
they will at least be able to create a few chances in the second half.
Yet they have not loosened their defence so that Tunisia should not have
many counter attacks at the beginning of the second half
2nd half
-Tunisia: Gabsi in for Zitouni,
looks like a little change in tactics
-Egypt: plays with #10 Sabry
now, who causes a first little havoc ('49)
-('52) Egypt: free-kick
from central position, 25 meters, El Ouaer has difficulties in saving the
good ball by Hossam Hassan
-('53) Tunisia: Jaziri scores
set up by Kanzari, but he's offside
still many free kicks
for small fouls, both teams try to suffocate the opponents game early
-('62) Badra successfully
stops Hosny, most attacks end by good defending, some by overoptimistic
passing
-('64) Egypt: opportunity
initiated from the left wing, but Hosny cannot get off a shot without another
defender deflecting it successfully
-('66) Tunisia: Bouazizi
in for Baya
-('67) Sabry displays his
extraordinary technical skills and gets a free kick at the corner flag,
El Ouaer knocks it out by his fist
-(68) Egypt: Hossam Hassan
25 meter shot far too weak for El Ouaer
-('72) a miserable goalkick
by El Ouaer (already the second of the match) and the Egyptians are stopped
for a freekick from almost 25 meters: Hossam Hassans attempt is deflected
by the wall
-('81) match starts to become
a bit more open now, as it starts getting late for Egypt
.('84) Kanzari tries from
2o meters but balloons it high across the goal
-('86) Tunisia: this time
a more dangerous counter attack but the ball in from the right side is
headed fopr a corner by an Egyptian defender in the last moment
-('88) Hossam Hassan who
has had a tough time is fouled again for a yellow card against #4 Boukadida
(substitute)
-('injury time) Jaziri and
Gabsi run a counter attack, which Jaziri tries to convert by a 20 meters
lob, but Egyptian keeper well alerted
-('injury time) Jaziri gets
a free kick and time off the clock
-('injury time) Jaziri wins
another free-kick
-match over, Tunisians are
overwhelmed with joy, thank the audience waving
Final result 0:1
A tough match in which both
teams neutraliized each other. It is hard to imagine how Tunisia whould
have scored else than from a standard. They reminded more the old style
of the Kasperczak era this time, concentrated on defence and scoring from
standards, won by lively individuals upfront.
They might have a different
face in the semi-finals again.
The Egyptians might have
been the slightly more dangerous team. But they did not accomplish to work
out a penalty, only free-kicks.
All in all it was a match
with almost no real huge scoring opportunities.
Tunisia will now play Cameroon
at the semi-finals on Thursday
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