Egyptians travel to Guinea today for the second clash in their bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, reports Ahmed Morsy Seven-time African champions Egypt got off to a winning start in their campaign to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with a 2-0 home victory over Mozambique behind closed doors in the Borg Al-Arab Stadium in Alexandria on Friday. Today, Egypt travel to Conakry for their second World Cup qualifier against Guinea on Sunday, 10 June. Egypt have been paired with Guinea, Zimbabwe and Mozambique in Group G. Egypt should finish on top to advance to another, final group as they seek to end a World Cup drought stretching back to 1990. On Friday, army soldiers replaced fans in the otherwise empty stadium. All of Egypt's games in the country have been played behind closed doors following the Port Said tragedy on 1 February in which 74 people were killed in a league match. With almost all domestic football activities suspended since, the team's performance against Mozambique was by and large ineffectual. Mohamed Abu Treika was the only exception in the first half, his through passes being crucial. His teammates though did not make the optimum use of his skills. In the ninth minute, midfielder Mohamed Salah, who will join Swiss side Basel in the summer, ran onto a superb pass from Abu Treika but his effort went straight to Mozambique keeper Rafael Kampango's hands. Similarly in the 14th minute, a sublime back-heel pass from Abu Treika found Salah, whose shot was saved by Kampagno who plays for Egyptian second division side Tersana. Four minutes later, striker Mohamed Nagi 'Gedo' wasted a scoring chance for Egypt when right-back Ahmed El-Mohamadi skipped past his challenger on the right and whipped in a cross from the by-line but Gedo's weak header was blocked by Kampagno. Following the below par performance in the first half, Bradley made his first substitution two minutes following the interval by replacing Gedo with Mainz forward Mohamed Zidan to put more pressure on Mozambique's defence. In the 56th minute, the pressure paid dividends when towering central defender Ahmed Hegazi, who is set to join Serie A side Fiorentina, nodded a cross into the path of the unmarked Zamalek's defender Mahmoud Fathallah at the far post to slot home. Zidan doubled the lead three minutes past the hour mark when he collected a defence-splitting pass from Dakhleyah forward Ahmed Temsah, to send a right-foot shot that struck the post before deflecting off Kampagno's back and into the net. American coach Bob Bradley stressed the importance of the team's opening win in the World Cup qualifiers. "It's an important first step. The first match is always difficult because each team starts with a lot of hope," Bradley, who enjoyed a winning start in his first competitive game in charge of Egypt, said during a television interview. "Mozambique were organised and they played defensively from the beginning. We are very pleased to make the first step," Bradley added. Guinea are second in group G after they beat Zimbabwe 1-0 in Harare on Sunday. The Pharaohs are also scheduled to host the Central African Republic in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on 17 June. They will meet again in the second leg on 30 June. But the presidential run-offs, slated for 16-17 June, are sure to alter the date of the first leg game. The first leg might also be played in Alexandria, away from Cairo due to FIFA sanctions. Last year, world football's governing body FIFA ordered Egypt to play their first two home qualifiers at least 100kms outside of Cairo following crowd trouble which marred the build-up to their 2009 game against North African rivals Algeria. There will once again be 16 nations participating in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals, with South Africa automatically gaining entry as hosts after that country struck a deal with Libya to swap their hosting rights from 2017. The North African country was originally scheduled to act as hosts, but the civil war made it impossible. South Africa, as hosts of the 2017 tournament, stepped in and offered to switch, giving the Libyans more time to prepare. For the first time since 1990, all the qualifying matches will be played on a knockout basis without advancing to any group stage because of the short interval between the 2012 finals and 2013 competition. The 14 winners of the second round ties played in February and the current month will be joined by 16 finalists from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals �ê" Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Gabon, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and Zambia. They will go into a draw for a third, and last round of 15 matches and the winners of those ties, to be played over two legs home and away, will qualify for the finals in South Africa. Two days ago, South Africa named Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Johannesburg as the host cities for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. The decision means that Cape Town Stadium, built for the 2010 World Cup, will not be used for the tournament. Johannesburg's FNB Stadium, formerly known as Soccer City and the venue for the World Cup final, will host only the opening match and the final. Bloemfontein and Polokwane had also made bids to host. The host cities should have been announced at the beginning of April but the news was delayed by negotiations over financial issues.
