Egypt came out on top of a friendly football tournament in Qatar, reports Shawki Saadeddin The Egyptian football Olympic team was victorious at the Qatar International Friendly Tournament. The seven-nation friendly was a warm-up for the young pharoahs who were scheduled to meet Cote d'Ivoire yesterday in Cairo in an Olympic Games qualifier. Also yesterday, the national team was scheduled to meet Sweden in a friendly match to mark the 50th anniversary of the African football federation. In the final, Egypt hammered Belarus 4-1 in front of a high spectator turnout of expatriates. Belarus opened the scoring through a penalty kick by Kisliak Siarhei (54 minutes) after which the young pharaohs responded with four outstanding goals by Ahmed Samir Farag (65m, 82m), Mohamed Reahu (86m) and Abdullah El-Said (90m). "It was a difficult match from beginning to end and the Byelorussians were very tough," Egypt's Portuguese coach Edward Manuel Vinchada said. "My plan was to get them tired because they play strongly and enthusiastically. The plan was successful but they scored the first goal. It was the real start for our team to score four consecutive goals. It is amazing and I am very happy that we pleased Egyptians in Doha and Egypt." "I am very pleased to win and be able please this big number of Egyptian fans at the stadium," midfielder Ahmed Samir Farag said. "It is a push forward to our team," left back Ahmed Shideed Kenawi added. The championship was composed of seven teams divided into two groups. Group A included hosts Qatar, the UAE, South Africa and Japan while Group B comprised Egypt, Belarus and Bahrain. In the first round, the UAE held hosts Qatar 1- 1 in an aggressive opening match. Both goals came in the first half after the UAE spoiled a winning chance by missing a penalty in the 43rd minute. South Africa stunned the defending champions Japan by an unexpected goal as they won 1-0. Egypt overpowered Belarus in their opening match at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium. Substitutes Abdullah Shahat Ibrahim (69m) and Reda El-Weishi (87 m) were the goal scorers. "I am very happy to score the second goal. This is the first time I participate with the Olympic team, " El-Weishi said. Vinchada attributed the victory over Belarus to the superior display by his team in the second half. "The first game is always a special one as no team would like to lose. The win is thus a good sign and we hope to make the semis," he said. "Our players improved their confidence level and performance as the game wore on. The two substitutes did a wonderful job, too," Vinchada added Belarus coach Yury Kurnenin blamed the defeat on his players' inability to score goals in the second half. "The main reason is the soccer season has yet started in our country and the players are struggling for fitness," he said. In the second round, the UAE beat South Africa 1-0 with a goal by Youssef Jaber Al-Hammadi, while Qatar played to a scoreless draw against Japan and Egypt defeated Bahrain 2-0. "I am happy with the result, reaching the semi- final and the high performance of the team," Vinchada said after Egypt beat Japan. "Based on performance, we have to work hard for the semi- final. Two consecutive matches were not easy and we now have time to recover," Vinchada added. "I am very pleased to score the first goal in this match that paved the way for our team," Egypt midfielder Abdullah El-Said said. Qatar beat South Africa 1-0. The match was full of enthusiasm by Qatari players. Qatar's goal was scored by Emad Nasser Al-Dahri. In the third round, Bahrain was defeated 2-0 by Belarus. Red cards were the hallmark of this match as Saleh Sabt Saleh and Hussein Rashid Al-Shakar from Bahrain received two red cards while Hihevich Siarhei from Belarus got a red card during the second half. In the semi-finals, Belarus defeated hosts Qatar 1-0 through an amazing goal by attacker Afanasyeu Mikhail, and Egypt beat South Africa with the same result to make it to the final. Against South Africa, the Egyptians were the maestro of the second half. Egypt attacker Mohamed Reahu scored the only goal in the second half (70m). "I'm very happy to have scored such a crucial goal that took our team to the final," Reahu said. The play-off for third place featured South Africa and hosts Qatar who was upset 5-4 on penalty kicks. "Qatar played a good match but were not lucky enough to win against South Africa," Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani, president of Qatar Football Association (QFA), said. The first edition of the Qatar International Friendly Tournament was played in 2002 with six participating Olympic teams drawn into two groups of three teams. Egypt did not participate in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 editions but the team came back for this year's tournament.
