African champions Egypt committed too many errors to allow Sudan crush them 4-0 in a friendly game in Omdurman on Wednesday. A Mahmoud Fathallah own goal in the first-half gave Sudan a deserved lead. Goalkeeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef, who replaced Essam Al-Hadari at halftime, was to blame for Sudan's additional three goals in the second half. In the last ten minutes, Mudathir El Tahir notched a brace while Ahmed Adel was also on the scoresheet to condemn Egypt to a heavy defeat. It is Egypt's first defeat at the hands of neighbors Sudan since 1975. It is also the Pharaohs' heaviest defeat in five years. In 2003, France thrashed Egypt 5-0 at Stade de France. Egypt are preparing for a crunch tie against DR Congo in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers next month. Sudan's Domination Sudan had the upper hand in the first half as Egypt players were apparently finding it difficult to adjust to their new roles. Egypt coach Hassan Shehata, who led the national team to back-to-back Nations Cup titles, employed an unfamiliar 4-4-2 formation. The six-time African champions are used to playing with a 3-5-2 formation. Middlesbrough's Mido, who played his first match for Egypt since September 2007, was deployed as a left winger. Natural midfielder Ahmed Hassan played on the right while playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika supported striking duo Emad Meteb and Amr Zaki. Despite the abundance of high-profile players within Egypt's starting line-up, the Pharaohs struggled to match their opponents.
Midfielder Mugahid Ahmed had a glorious opportunity to put Sudan in front after ten minutes. He latched onto a through pass to beat the offside trap and go one-on-one with the keeper, but Al-Hadari rushed out of his goal to block Ahmed's effort. In the 25th minute, Haytham Tambal's acrobatic effort from a right-wing cross narrowly missed the target. Egypt's only chance came one minute later when Meteb cut ahead of Sudan keeper Moez Mahjoub to meet a left-wing cross with a header that went just wide of the post. Fathallah fired Sudan in front eight minutes before the break when he dived to head Badreldin Galag's cross into his own net. Misery Widened Shehata took off the in-form Al-Hadari and introduced Abdul-Monsef. Ahli midfielder Hossam Ashour also stepped onto the pitch to make his Egypt debut. Giant shot-stopper Abdul-Monsef made dreadful mistakes to help Sudan score three more goals and heap more misery on the visitors. Nine minutes from time, the 31-year-old custodian failed to deal with a tame cross from the left. The ball slipped out of his grasp as El Tahir pounced to slot home into an empty net. Adel added the third in the 88th minute when he raced towards the area unopposed before sending a low shot, that was a weak one, but it eluded Abdul-Monsef and went into the net. El Tahir completed the rout in stoppage time when he went clear on goal after a neatly-worked counter attack to drill a low shot beneath the helpless Abdul-Monsef. Watch Sudan's goals
