Egypt produce a mediocre display to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to minnows Botswana in their last friendly before facing Zimbabwe and Mozambique in two World Cup qualifying games this month A lacklustre Egypt side were held to a 1-1 draw by Botswana in Cairo in their last warm-up for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The Pharaohs fell behind after six minutes when a dreadful blunder by veteran defender Wael Gomaa allowed Jerome Ramatlhakwane to open the scoring but an impressive header by Ahmed Hegazy brought the hosts level seven minutes before the interval. Fiorentina's central defender Hegazy was making his first appearance for Egypt since rupturing his cruciate knee ligament in December. Egypt are on top of Group G of the World Cup qualifiers with nine points, five ahead of second-placed Guinea and seven clear of Mozambique with three matches remaining. Zimbabwe lie at the bottom with a solitary point. The seven-time African champions could secure their place in the final round with two matches to spare if they beat Zimbabwe on Sunday and Guinea fail to overcome Mozambique. Short back-pass Egypt were caught off guard after six minutes when Ramatlhakwane intercepted a short back-pass from Gomaa and broke clear. His shot struck the body of keeper Sherif Ekramy and rebounded off him and into the net. Egypt hardly threatened Botswana in a dull first half, with attacking midfielders Abdallah El-Said, Walid Soliman and Ahmed Elmohamady struggling to feed lone striker Ahmed Hassan Mekki. In-form forward Mohamed Salah and central midfielder Mohamed El-Neny were rested after helping Basel win the Swiss league for the fourth consecutive season on Saturday. Veteran playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika also stayed on the bench. Egypt's best chance came midway through the first half when a low shot by El-Said went just wide of the post. They still managed to restore parity on 38 minutes when Hegazy towered to send a superb glancing header past the Botswana keeper following an inch-perfect cross from Elmohamady, who played a key role in helping England's Hull City seal promotion to the English Premier League. The introduction of the likes of Zamalek frontman Ahmed Gaafar and playmaker Ahmed Eid after the break injected zeal and helped Egypt pour forward en masse. A low shot by Eid struck the post and an angled effort by Gaafar from inside the area was blocked by the keeper. Botswana were also dangerous on the break, forcing some fine stops from Ekramy. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/73198.aspx
