The pedigree of Hassan Shehata's Egypt clearly indicates that the Pharaohs could well go past Algeria in the crucial World Cup qualifier on Saturday. Under veteran coach Shehata, the African champions impressed in the majority of their pivotal games over the past three years. Now the Egyptian fans are praying that the former Zamalek star will live up to the occasion on November 14th and extend his record. January 2006: Egypt 3-1 Ivory Coast In the 2006 African Cup of Nations, hosts Egypt failed to register a victory in their second game over Morocco who salvaged a draw. A loss for the Egyptians in their next game with Ivory Coast was not far-fetched, given that the latter have been deemed one of the strongest teams on the Black Continent. But Shehata's men sprang a surprise and beat the Ivoirians 3-1, thanks to a brace from Emad Meteb and another strike from talismanic playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika. February 2006: Egypt 0-0 Ivory Coast (Egypt won 4-2 on penalties) Both teams met again in the final of the same competition. Even though pundits at the time tipped the Elephants for the title, Egypt won again. The game saw the visitors squander a number of clear-cut chances, and eventually ended in a goalless draw. Egypt won the competition after outclassing their opponents in an exciting penalty shootout. January 2008: Egypt 4-2 Cameroon
Egypt's continental triumph in 2006 was largely put down to their home advantage, but Shehata repeated the praiseworthy feat in the next edition of the biennial tournament to prove otherwise. The title holders battered Cameroon 4-2 in the first match to kickoff their campaign in the best possible way. Both sides reached the final, and Egypt magnificently won it 1-0 following a string of spectacular results. February 2008: Egypt 4-1 Ivory Coast Once again Egypt scored a historic win under Shehata's guidance when they took on Ivory Coast, who slumped to a 4-1 loss to the eventual champions. The African Cup of Nations game was widely expected to end differently, as the African giants were seeking to avenge their losses to Egypt in the 2006 edition. However, Abou-Treika, Amr Zaki and Ahmed Fathi capitalized on their opponents' stuttering backline to spank them. September 2008: DR Congo 0-1 Egypt After succumbing to a 1-0 loss to Malawi in the preliminary round of the World cup qualifiers, Egypt beat DR Congo 1-0 away. Abou-Treika hit the precious winner to help his team avoid an embarrassing exit and regain self-confidence. June 2009: Brazil 4-3 Egypt It was widely believed Egypt would get a severe drubbing at the hands of Brazil in their FIFA Confederations Cup opening game, but they raised some eyebrows in a mouth-watering clash.
The six-time African champions scored three goals, and the imposing Selecao struggled to record a 4-3 win. Egypt produced a memorable display that gave them a huge morale boost and somewhat revived their World Cup qualification hopes after their infamous 3-1 loss to Algeria. June 2009: Italy 0-1 Egypt In their next match, Egypt have registered one of their greatest-ever victories by beating world champions Italy 1-0. Another riveting performance from the Egyptians saw them outclass the Azzurri, who were striving in vain for a draw. Ismaili skipper Mohamed Hommos was given a rare starting berth at the expense of skipper Ahmed Hassan, and he repaid Shehata's faith by hitting the winner. July 2009: Rwanda 0-1 Egypt It was a make-or-break challenge for Egypt in the World Cup qualifying stage at minnows Rwanda. Captain Ahmed Hassan netted the winner in the game that saw the Egyptians abysmally affected by the immense pressure they were facing. October 2009: Zambia 0-1 Egypt Again, Egypt had to defeat Zambia in order to keep alive their hopes to qualify for the World Cup. Egypt put in a horrendous performance and the home side had several scoring chances that were all prevented by in-form goalie Essam Al-Hadari. Hosni Abd Rabou eventually cannoned a long-range shot that hit the top corner of the net to give Egypt a priceless win.
