Egypt through, hosts bow out

Egypt defeated host South Africa 1-0 to pick the second spot in Group A of the African Youth Championships played on Saturday at Dobsonville stadium in Johannesburg.

Mali picked the first spot earlier after winning their first two matches against Egypt and South Africa.

South Africa started the game on a fast pace, taking complete control of the first ten minutes and launching attacks from the midfield and the right flank. Leading the attack for South Africa was Nguzana Lucky who came closer to scoring in the 12th minute but failed to make contact with the ball.

---

Despite the pressure, Egypt which relied on counter attacks gradually came back into the game and restored confidence in themselves and forcing the South Africans to be more cautious.

A miscalculation from Egypt’s Mohamed Ghaly in the 30th minute with only one man to beat derailed their chance of taking advantage. Few minutes later, another chance through a free kick was wasted by Ahmed Hegazi whose low shot was not on target.

South Africa’s closest chance was in the 44th minute when Lucky’s strong header from Ramabu Lee long cross was parried over the bar by the Egyptian goalkeeper.

The deadlock was broken in the 45th minute as Egypt’s Mohamed Hamdy Zaky took advantage of a goal month melee to put Egypt ahead.

The second half began with both sides not ready to commit any errors, pushing forward and falling back quickly.

The side bar denied South Africa an equalizer in the 58th minute. Egypt responded with counter attack as Mohamed Ibrahim with only the keeper to beat shot wide.
South Africa fought effortlessly for an equalizer but lady luck was on the side of Egyptians, losing some chances.

With few minutes left, both teams put pressure on each other but South Africa had better chances that never yielded any dividend for the host.

With this result, Egypt has qualified for both the Orange African Youth Championship semis and a place for the FIFA World Youth Championship in Colombia.

Source: AFRICAN SOCCER
PIX: Jabulani Ncubeni of South Africa challenged by Ramy Rabiea of Egypt