Egypt became the first African/Arab country to play in the legendary stadium but it was England which stole the show. From London, Abeer Anwar reports on what it was like in the home of modern football England picked up their first win of the year, a 3-1 win against Egypt in a friendly on a cool 3 March evening, thanks to a memorable second half performance and some telling substitutions which led to all three goals. But the weather was not the only thing that was cool. In a nearly packed stadium of exactly 80,602 fans out of a possible 90,000, it was a thrill seeing the Pharaohs playing in Wembley, such an iconic stadium, a first for an African and Arab country. It was an honour to see Egypt's flag fluttering in Wembley amid the 15,000 Egyptian and other Arab fans who came to cheer the Egyptians on. "I was to go on the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia but at the last minute I decided to join my friends in London to support the Egyptian team," Soha Arabi told Al-Ahram Weekly. Arabi was just one of several hundred Egyptian supporters who flew to London for the game. Like many, she had to first get a UK visa, not the easiest of tasks, and then pay a handsome price for flights and accommodation. While some women came to cheer, others went for the sake of their children who wanted to see the English stars, notably Wayne Rooney and David Beckham (who did not play). "We were good the first half until the 60th minute and then we made some fatal mistakes in addition to the difference in experience between the players," Shawki Gharieb, Egypt's assistant coach, said. He added that the third goal was clearly offside. Still "it was a great honour for us to play in Wembley against the English team, one with great experience. We learnt a lot and it was a beneficial experience." The Three Lions had found themselves a goal behind at the break following Mohamed Zidan's opener, but things were different following the re-start as substitutes Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips fired England to victory against the African champions. England did start the game well and Frank Lampard had England's first effort on goal, timing his run perfectly to latch on to Theo Walcott's cross, only to be denied by the knees of Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari. Egypt proved with several early exchanges of passes that they were certainly not intimidated by coming to Wembley and having recently won their third successive Africa Cup of Nations, they were a team imbued with confidence. Zidan was at the heart of much of their attacking creation, and it was no surprise when Egypt took the lead that it was the man with such a famous football name who got on the scoresheet. Eleven minutes into the second period, England finally hit their stride with a superb goal involving five players and superbly finished by substitute Crouch. With Egypt firmly on the back foot, the Three Lions pressed their advantage and in one move would attempt three spectacular volleys in a matter of seconds, first Crouch, then Steven Gerrard and Rooney but none managed to hit the target. Parity was restored and England's manager Fabio Capello swiftly replaced Walcott with Wright-Phillips, another change that would reap rewards later in the game. James Milner came on for the skipper Gerrard, and when his driven volley proved too hot to handle for El-Hadari Wright-Phillips followed it up with a curling effort that put England into the lead. Within minutes, two substitutes combined once more, with Wright-Phillips driving forward and finding Crouch unmarked in front of goal to give England a third goal and seal the man-of-the-match award for himself in the process. That proved to be the last of the action, but Capello can certainly be pleased with the way his charges responded in the second half against a fluent and experienced Egyptian side. On board the plane back to Egypt, right back Ahmed El-Muhammadi said he had received an offer from Chelsea but that he would give the details later. "It was a good match regardless of the score," El-Muhammadi told the Weekly. "We did our best especially in the first half but we were affected by the English fans who packed the whole stadium." Capello told a press conference following the match, "In the first half, the Egyptians were perfect, especially Zidan and Essam El-Hadari who blocked a number of dangerous shots from Rooney and his teammates but I think that the Pharaohs ran a lot in the first half and their physical fitness played a big role in giving us the chance to win. They were very tired in the second half and it showed and of course we played on this, plus the changes I made in the second half." Samir Zaher, head of the Egyptian Federation, said the match was not easy for either side but that the Egyptians gave a good impression of African football "and it is a great honour that we were the first African and Arab country to score on English soil." Before the match, Lord Triesman, chairman of the English Football Association, said, "Egyptians are in great form and come from a passionate football nation. We have much in common." Egypt and England met twice before on the football field, in Cairo for a friendly in 1986 which England won 4-0, and in Cagliari during the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The latter was a close encounter, Mark Wright heading the only goal of that Group F fixture after 59 minutes.
