Egypt played out a tame 1-1 draw with Malawi on Tuesday in an exhibition game that was held at Cairo Stadium as part of both sides' preparations for the African Cup of Nations (CAN). Honsi Abd-Rabou opened the scoring 15 minutes from halftime, but Maupo Msowoya restored parity in the dying minutes of the game. Pharaohs coach Hassan Shehata fielded the majority of the provisional 32-squad, which he has recently announced for CAN. The continental competition gets underway on January 10th. Possession Egypt were clearly superior in terms of possession, while the visitors were trying to keep a clean sheet. Hazem Emam, who was featuring for Egypt for the first time, fired a shot from inside the area in an attempt to hit an early opener but his effort drifted wide of the mark. The pacey right winger could have scored later on 19 minutes but his cross-come-shot was punched away by the keeper. Three minutes later, Honsi Abd-Rabou came close to scoring when his curling free-kick hit the post to go out. Malawi had their first scoring chance on the half-hour mark. An unmarked player penetrated the penalty area from the left to whip in a low cross after confronting goalie Essam Al-Hadari, but the Egyptian rearguard eventually cleared the danger.
Abd-Rabou hit the opener Skipper Ahmed Hassan was awarded a spot-kick on the stroke of halftime when he was harshly brought down by goalie Swadick Sanudi. Hosni Abd-Rabou converted the penalty kick to give the hosts a slender lead. Substitutions After the interval, Hassan Shehata made quite a few substitutions to help his side take a stranglehold on the game. Hossam Ghaly, who has been away from the international stage for a long time, was among those who were sent in. Petrojet ace Al-Sayed Hamdi, who's expected to make a competent international figure in the near future, fired a nice shot on 51 minutes but it went inches past the post. The Zimbabweans failed to cope with their opposition's onslaught, and thus intensified their defensive efforts. However, goalie Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed rose to the challenge as he produced an impressive save when a front-man went one-on-one with him following a counter-attack. Visitors' goalie Sanudi made way for Simplex Nthara after sustaining an injury midway through the second period. Malawi star Msowoya scored the equalizer three minutes from time when he surprisingly netted home a neat free-kick. Malawi got the upper hand in the dying minutes and could have scored a late winner.
