FIFA World Youth Championships

 

 

Egypt

1-0

England

Emad Motab 72

Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai

02 December 2003



Despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Andrew Lonergan - who was described as 'coming of age' last night by Goalkeeping Coach Tony Parks - England's young lions were defeated 1-0.

A goal on 72 minutes following a mazy run by Emad Motab capped a fine display of attacking football by the Egyptians, which had England on the back foot for most of the game.

In front of a capacity crowd packed with a passionate Egytian following, England found themselves under pressure almost from the first whistle, with Lonergan forced into a save after only 90 seconds.

Philip Ifil who had come into the starting line-up a week after his seventeenth birthday was an early target for the Egyptians, and the young Tottenham defender found himself walking a tightrope after 11 minutes when he was booked for a mistimed tackle. To his credit, any nerves that he felt were dealt with and the game soon settled into a frenetic tempo.

Egypt were counter-attacking at pace and shooting from distance, yet in the opening 30 minutes, England had two good opportunities. First Chopra was denied by the hugely impressive Sherif Ekramy in the Egypt goal, and then Chopra and Thomas were denied after 32 minutes.

A minute later Chris Carruthers had to be replaced by Jay McEveley after picking up another knock to his knee, and the Blackburn man soon found himself dealing with an attacking onslaught.

A brief rainburst failed to cool down the attacking instincts of Hassan Shehata's side, and just before the half-time whistle, Hasni Abd Rabo clipped the top of the England crossbar after England conceeded possession in midfield.

At half-time Egypt had dominated the possession, yet had also collected 5 yellow cards, including one to centre forward Ahmed Said for diving in the England box. Any suggestion that they would fail to maintain the tempo in the second half were soon expelled.

Ahmed Fathi cut in from the right flank to let fly with a shot that just went past Lonergan's far post, and Samir forced Lonergan into a fine save at full stretch on 62 minutes.

England's cause was not helped when they lost captain Gary O'Neil to a groin injury, but his replacement Andrew Taylor battled manfully against opponents 2-3 years older.

The goal when it finally came was wonderfully executed. After John Welsh and Matt Kilgallon had both failed to retain possession under pressure in midfield, Motab - the Egyptian number 17 - drove forward and held off the challenge of five England defenders, feinted to shoot and then slid the ball past Lonergan, to the acclaim of the partisan crowd.

England responded by substituting Jerome Thomas and bringing on Eddie Johnson, and three minutes later England could, and with a bit more luck, should have equalised.

A short ball out from the back was collected by Chopra who had come deep, who swept the ball out to Taylor. A quick one-two with McEveley on the overlap saw the ball cut back for Darren Carter, but his goalbound shot was blocked by Tommy Wright, who had been coming in from the far post.

Rather than galvanising England, this scare only seemed to re-energise the Egyptians, and their response was emphatic. Motab, spurred on by his goal twice forced fantastic saves from Lonergan in the final six to seven minutes, and at the final whistle, Egypt were good value for their win.

After the game, Head Coach Les Reed told TheFA.com and assembled world media: "If I had been a spectator tonight and not a coach, I would have really enjoyed tonight's game. There was a lot of excitement but we were beaten by a technically gifted team who will get stronger as the tournament goes on, and were the better team tonight.

"People here know that we have travelled without some of our strongest players who were unavailable from their clubs, but I am very proud of my players again tonight as they gave everything.

"We have the youngest squad at the tournament, and for players like Ifil and Steven and Andrew Taylor tonight who are all 17, this would have been a massive step in their personal development.

"The players will not give up until it is impossible for us not to qualify and will come out against Colombia with their heads held high, and prepared to take on another very gifted team."

Alex Stone, Al Maktoom Stadium, Dubai