Egypt Nations Cup hopes in tatters after loss to Tunisia

Egypt condemned to their second African qualifier home loss at the hands of North African rivals Tunisia

Egypt suffered their second African Cup of Nations qualifying defeat after losing 1-0 to Tunisia at Air Defense Stadium, leaving their hopes of reaching the 2015 Morocco finals up in the air.
A 14th-minute goal from Tunisia star Fakhreddine Ben Youssef was enough to hand Shawki Gharib's men their second defeat in a row following their 2-0 defeat by Senegal last week.
Record seven-time African champions Egypt, who missed out on qualification for the last two CAN editions, now lie at the bottom of Group G with no points – as Senegal are now on top beating Botswana 2-0.
Egypt started the game with a 4-3-3 formation, featuring full backs Hazem Emam on the right and Mohamed Abdel-Shafy on the left – with Ahmed Fathi deployed in a holding midfielder position.
The trio were arguably Egypt's best three in the first half, with Emam and Abdel-Shafy launching forays down their flanks, unsettling the opposition full-backs throughout.
But it was Emam's pushing forward what Egypt had to pay for, with Ali Maaloul and Ben Youssef brilliantly combining down the left before the latter superbly dribbled past the below-par Ahmed Saied 'Okka' to finish wonderfully past keeper Sherif Ekramy.
The Pharaohs could have gone two down four minutes later, when Maaloul headed wide a cross from the left, much to the relief of the home fans.
From that point, Tunisia focused on sitting deep and closing down spaces, inviting pressure from the Egyptians – who then spurned several goal-scoring opportunities to level the scoring.
An exquisite long pass from the back by Abdel-Shafi was headed by the in-form forward Amr Gamal into Khaled Kamar's path to go through on goal, but the latter's finish was rather disappointing.
Manager Gharib was quick to withdraw the lacklustre Hossam Ghaly and introduce the veteran Hosni Abd-Rabou, whose presence made tangible difference in midfield.
His introduction could have borne fruit shortly afterwards, when a superb team move saw Kamar control the ball inside the left handside of the area before crossing for the onrushing Abd-Rabou - whose free header went wide five minutes from the break.
Egypt's influence decline
In the second half, Gharib switched to a classic 4-4-2 format - moving Fathi to his traditional right-back position and pushing Emam forward.
But it was Tunisia who should have been awarded a penalty when Ben Youssef beat Egypt's sluggish rearguard again with this pace, only for keeper Ekramy to foul him with the referee waving play on.
It was the 67th minute that witnessed the first genuine chance after the restart when the man-of-the match Ben Youssef evaded Ali Ghazal's impulsive challenge to break clear before seeing his strike agonizingly bounce off the post.
In an attempt to inject life into his struggling side, Gharib introduced Rio Ave striker Ahmed Hassan'Koka' instead of Kamar, and Sporting winger Shikabala in place of Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny.
Egypt continued to boss possession, with most of their attacks coming from right flank – as left-back Abdel-Shafi ,who lacked enough support from midfielders, looked to have run out of gas after the break.
The latter stages of the game did not witness much of real chances for both teams, with Egypt still retaining control but failing to mount gilt-edged chances to lose their first home match since a 3-2 defeat by Central African Republic in 2012.
(For more sports news and updates, followAhramOnline Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/110453.aspx