Second-half substitute Mohamed Nagi 'Geddo' scored to give Egypt a 1-0 win over Mali in a friendly game in Dubai as part of both teams' preparations for this month's African Cup of Nations (CAN). The majority of Egypt's regulars took part in the game, unlike the Eagles who played the game without most of their key players. It was Egypt's last game before heading to Angola with the aim of winning a third successive CAN title. The tournament gets underway on January 10th. Mali could have hit an early opener when Tenema N'Diaye rose to head a precise cross, but Al-Hadari produced a magnificent save to keep a clean sheet. Egypt's first scoring chance fell to Mohamed Zidan, who latched onto an Ahmed Hassan deft pass to dribble a challenger and fire a shot that went inches over the crossbar. Mali coach Stephen Keshi was dismissed in the early minutes of the game after being spotted while arguing with security men near the byline for no apparent reason. Hossam Ghaly had a goal disallowed when he towered unmarked to head home a free-kick, but the referee signaled for offside. Zidan surprisingly intercepted a clearance on the edge of the area to flick the ball to Meteb whose drive was blocked, before Ahmed Hassan had another follow-up effort cleared too.
On 40 minutes, Fathi came close to scoring but his long-range volley was saved by the keeper. After the break, both sides showed a lot more caution for while. Shikabala was sent in early in the second half instead of Ahmed Al-Muhammadi, while skipper Hassan made way for Ittihad's Geddo. After tame attacks from the Pharaohs, striker Geddo broke the deadlock six minutes past the hour mark with a curling shot from outside the area. The goal was his first on the international stage. Seven minutes from time, Ghaly received his marching orders for two bookable offences either side of the interval. The dying minutes saw Mali take control of the game but to no avail. Second-half substitute Abdul-Zaher Al-Saqqa brought down a challenger in the area to award the Malians a penalty kick, which Abdoulaye Traore failed to convert after he was denied by the bar.
