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The Pharaohs were moving at a frantic pace for most of the match, and it paid dividends early, as Tareq El-Saeed scored just five minutes into the ‘must-win’ encounter.
The visitors were hapless throughout the first half but Egypt couldn’t add to their lead until minute 37, when Ismaily midfielder Mohammed Barakat broke through on a one-on-one with the Namibian keeper and coolly finished to double the advantage.
Barakat’s strike opened the floodgates, as Abdel Hamid Bassyouni, playing in his first match for the national team in nearly two years, suddenly exploded, with a hat trick in just five minutes.
First, a 39th minute header that took a deflection off the far goal post before crossing the goal line, then, an easy finish from a low cross, and Bassyouni, the subject of a recent transfer to Ismaily, had his third when he deflected a 44th minute shot from Ahmed Hassan into the near corner.
A quick counter attack led to a score from short range for the Namibians in the 53rd minute. What seemed to be a freak goal was complimented by a second Namibian strike, this resulting from a goalkeeping error, as Nader El-Sayed made a haphazard lunge towards a long ball, but missed his target.
Substitutes score
It didn’t take long for the hosts to regroup, as they were awarded a penalty with half an hour remaining. Much to the dismay of the home crowd, Tareq El-Saeed, the man who earned the spot kick, shot directly towards the keeper who had little trouble with the save.
The now desperate Egyptians knew just one goal could spark another valuable scoring spree, and that spark would come from Barakat, who also ignited the four-goal explosion in the first half.
Much-maligned midfielder Abdel Sattar Sabry made a late appearance, and his presence was felt in a hurry. His tricky dribbling surrounded him with defenders, he then sent a through ball to Mohammed Abu Greisha, who had also just entered the match, and Abu Greisha made no mistake restoring Egypt’s five-goal advantage.
Sabry could’ve single handedly increased the Egypt lead by two or three goals, but failed to act quickly when it counted. He did finally got his name on the score sheet, with an 87th minute strike that was fortunate to end up in the back of the net after flirting with the goal line.
Miracle in the making?
Despite a few squandered opportunities, luck, to some degree, was on the Pharaohs’ side Friday night as three of the eight goals had taken goal-post ricochets.
Egypt needed a minor miracle heading into the match if they were to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals. The first of a three-part miracle was a success, as the Pharaohs upped their goal difference considerably, as it now sits at +9.
The extraordinary efforts of the day will all go for naught, if Senegal fails to beat group leaders Morocco in Dakar on Saturday.
If the Atlas Lions do fail to grab at least a point, Egypt will have survived another day, and will go into their last match at Algeria next weekend with hope.