Lions to face Egypt at Wembley
Monday, 21 December, 2009
March friendly to evoke memories of 1990 World Cup tie.
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England’s opening match of 2010 will see Egypt visit Wembley for the first time on Wednesday 3 March, as Fabio Capello continues his preparations for the World Cup Finals.
The match will be significant for Capello and his England players, having been drawn alongside Egypt's fellow North Africans Algeria in Group C at the World Cup.
Egypt, who will be the first African opponents for England under Capello, were denied a place in South Africa by the Algerians in a thrilling play-off last month. The two teams could not be separated in any respect at the conclusion of the qualifying campaign, and the one-off game was decided by an Antar Yahia strike.
England have played the Egyptians just twice previously, with the most recent meeting coming at the World Cup Finals in Italy 19 years ago.
Sir Bobby Robson’s side won by a solitary Mark Wright goal on that occasion, with the victory putting England through to the Second Round after two draws in their opening group matches.
Four years earlier, also under the stewardship of Sir Bobby, England won by four goals in a friendly in Cairo. That was The Three Lions’ first match of 1986, with goals from Gordon Cowans and Danny Wallace setting them on their way before a Trevor Steven strike, that was the 1500th goal scored for England, made it 3-0. An own goal from Mohammed Omar completed the scoring.
A third successive triumph over Egypt would also be a special landmark for England, with the victories column currently reading 499 for The Three Lions.
No other fixture details have been confirmed at this time.