Mohamed Salah inspired Egypt to their first-ever World Cup win as they came from a goal down to beat New Zealand 3-1 with a brilliant second-half display on Sunday, moving top of Group G and boosting their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
After a relatively quiet first half that saw them go in behind at the break, Egypt and Salah turned up the heat in the second period as the 34-year-old winger showed he is still capable of conjuring magic from his boots.
“It’s a great achievement for all the players. It’s a great win. It’s a great vibe. The next game is very important,” Salah said as he took the plaudits amongst his teammates.
Egypt, who drew 1-1 with Belgium in their opener, moved top of the group with four points from two matches. The All Whites, held 2-2 by Iran in their opener, are bottom with one point. Belgium and the Iranians have two points after their 0-0 draw.
New Zealand’s first-half gameplan was as simple as it was effective, kicking long when they needed to and keeping possession when they could, and defender Finn Surman broke the deadlock from a corner, losing marker Ahmed Fatouh before steering a powerful header into the net.
Though Callum McCowatt had a glancing header tipped over the bar early on for New Zealand, Egypt piled on the pressure after the break and they levelled through Mostafa Zico, who headed home Mohamed Hany’s cross from the right in the 58th minute.
Salah then finally gave the crowd what they wanted nine minutes later, breaking forward down the right and playing a one-two with Zico before slotting the ball into the far corner.
Salah almost scored his second in the 81st minute, cutting in from the right and firing a deflected shot over, but he notched an assist from the resulting corner as substitute Mahmoud Trezeguet dived to head home at the near post.
Ear-splitting roar greets Egypt victory
The New Zealanders gave it all they had to reduce the deficit and Hossam Abdelmaguid had to be replaced late on with a suspected concussion, his eye swelling up as he left the field.
By the 10th minute of stoppage time, the Egyptian fans were whistling loudly for the referee to end the game.
When he did, an ear-splitting roar went up as Salah and company made history with the country’s first World Cup win and coach Hossam Hassan lapped the stadium with an Egyptian flag.
“My feelings are the same as those of the Egyptian people because I am one of them. I am one of them and I love them — those who came here and those who stayed up back in Egypt watching,” Hassan said.
“The stadium felt as if we were in Egypt. The fans made it feel as though we were playing in Egypt, and I told the players, ‘We’re playing in Egypt.’ The stadium was full, like Cairo Stadium.”
New Zealand, after twice being pegged back by Iran in their 2-2 draw, again let a lead slip, and this time it proved more costly as Salah worked his magic.
“I think we contained them well enough, but they have good enough people in the whole side,” New Zealand captain Chris Wood told reporters.
“You can’t just focus on one player, and he (Salah) can pop up with a goal at any time and he showed that.”
“He’s a good player, you have to keep an eye on him, but there’s also a lot of other boys in that team that create problems and eventually they scored goals as well.”
New Zealand round off the group stage against Belgium in Vancouver, while Egypt will meet Iran in their final game with all to play for in the race for a spot in the Round of 32.
