By the time the Confederations Cup ends, either Brazil or the US will have lifted the trophy. For Egypt, though, the tournament concluded earlier after that embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Americans.
Too bad the loss came at the end. Had it been the reverse, had Egypt lost to the US first, then downed Italy, then ran Brazil ragged – all of which happened — it would have left a far better and lasting impression. Instead the American loss left a bitter taste, especially when considering how close we were to reaching the semis and how distant that target was for the US. Before the game, Egypt had three points and a zero goals for/against average. Italy had three points and a +1 average. The US had no points and a -5 average.
At the half, our coach Hassan Shehata was of two minds, and probably needed more to cope with the myriad scenarios. With Brazil beating Italy 3-0 and the US beating Egypt 1-0, had the scores remained as they were, then Egypt would have progressed over Italy and the US by goal average: -1, -2 and -4 respectively. But at this time, Shehata didn t know whether to play offense or defense.
What he should have done is play defense which Egypt is good at. We should have closed down the spaces we were giving to the fitter Americans.
Losing by just 1-0 to the US would have knocked America out. Italy would have needed three second half goals against Brazil to oust Egypt, but with the way things were going for Italy throughout the entire tournament, that looked unlikely.
Instead, Shehata played neither good defense nor good offense and during the time he was vacillating, the US struck twice.
Where was Homos? Nobody knows. The Ismaili midfielder was not picked for the game; he wasn t even a substitute, even though he was not injured.
Homos not playing against the US remains a mystery, as does his entire relationship with Shehata. Homos took no part in any of the last two African championships Egypt won, was dropped against Zambia, dropped against Algeria, saw no action against Brazil and was suddenly thrust into the starting line-up against Italy. Against the Azzurri he not only scored Egypt s winning goal but ran more than any other player on the field, 11.9 kilometers, almost 12,000 meters. The irony of this performance in stamina is that Homos is used sparingly by Shehata for a perceived lack of physical fitness.
Homos absence against the US is as mystifying as the theft of the Egyptian players at the supposed hands of light-fingered South African ladies of the night. Don t know quite what to make of the South African newspaper allegations. There is no genuine evidence for or against. Young, famous, handsome, millionaire, limited education footballers can and do go overboard at times but we hope our soccer players kept their hands to themselves and stay focused on what s up ahead.
What s next is Rwanda and it is imperative that Egypt win in Cairo when they meet July 5 in World Cup qualifiers. We had better win because Algeria is pulling away. Algeria beating Zambia in Zambia 2-0 was the worst thing that could have happened to Egypt. If you were rooting for Egypt then an Algeria-Zambia draw would have been the best outcome. A tie would have prevented either one from running away from the pack. If a team had to win, it was best that Zambia have the honors because a win at home is the expected. But the unexpected happened and now Algeria has a chance to beat Zambia in Algeria and an exact six priceless points from their back-to-back encounters.
So beating Rwanda, and with a big score, is a must. It shouldn t be too difficult. After playing Brazil and Italy, who between them have nine World Cups, Rwanda would seem puny in comparison. In South Africa, Egypt rediscovered the manner of play which brought them the Africa Nations Cup last year and which had been missing up until the Confederations Cup, or at least the first two-thirds of the tournament.
The highs and lows of the Confederations Cup provided invaluable experience and lessons. Even if Egypt had won no points, even if 27 goals had been scored against it, we still would have benefited. We would have been morons not to. Now s the time to apply what was learnt.
