Egypt lost 2-0 to Spain in their friendly on Saturday, the first international Egypt has played since being crowned African champions in February. Abeer Anwar reports Egypt is not playing in the World Cup but Spain is, using the friendly in the city of Elche to get to better know Arab football. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, along with the Ukraine. are with Spain in Group H. The long layoff showed in Egypt's play, which could not generate any scoring possibility in the first half, during which the Egyptians seemed in awe of their more illustrious Spanish counterparts. But Egypt had two good chances in the second. Iker Casillas' careless pass was stolen by Mohamed Abu Treika who could not slot the ball home. Substitute Abdel-Halim Ali's powerful header brought out a dazzling stretch dive by Casillas. Spain rediscovered their scoring touch but question marks over style, tactics and the composition of the starting line-up remain. Aragones's side are now unbeaten in 21 games though they have yet to produce a really impressive performance and few players excelled in either last week's 0-0 draw against Russia or the game against Egypt. Real Madrid forward Raul, whose position in the team has come under question in recent months, scored his first goal for club and country since October when he poked home a rebound which was not held or parried properly by Essam El-Hadari in the 14th minute. The Arsenal forward, Jose Antonio Reyes, extended Spain's lead with a beautifully struck free- kick just before the hour mark and strengthened his claim for a place in the starting line-up. "We are improving," said coach Luis Aragones. "But I'm not completely happy because we still have to refine some aspects of our play. We gave the ball away too easily and gifted them several chances from which they could have scored." The 67-year-old suggested he would favour a more conservative approach when the tournament starts. "Sometimes we try playing too much and that could cost us dear in the World Cup," he said. "If we find ourselves 1-0 up we need to tighten up and play on the break. "We are going to try and win this World Cup but we know that historically we have done nothing in this tournament." Spain open their campaign against Ukraine in Leipzig on 14 June and face Tunisia in Stuttgart and Saudi Arabia in Kaiserslautern in their remaining games. Egypt coach Hassan Shehata, who guided the team to an unprecedented fifth African title, blamed the team as a whole for the loss.
