Egypt caused England all sorts of problems with an energetic first-half performance but ended up surrendering their lead after running out of gas in the second period to lose 3-1 in Wednesday's friendly. The African champions went to the locker room with a deserved 1-0 lead, thanks to a goal from lively striker Mohamed Zidan who set an example in how can a player adopt the modern aspects of football. He unsettled England's defense to score the opener and repeatedly stole possession from opposing midfielders to accomplish his attacking and defensive duties in the best possible way. His teammates also exerted lots of efforts and were equally energetic in defense and attack but their failure to keep up the momentum after the restart cost them what would have been a remarkable win – nine months after beating Italy 1-0 in the Confederations Cup. "We ran a lot in the first-half and were able to snatch the opener," Egypt assistant coach Shawki Gharib told the post-match news conference. "Physically, we couldn't keep up with England in the second-half." Egypt's left-back Sayed Moawad managed to contain Theo Walcott but was powerless against his replacement, Shaun Wright-Philips, as his form faded after the break. Manchester City's Wright-Philips scored and created a goal for fellow substitute Peter Crouch to kill off the Pharaohs' hopes of causing a major upset at Wembley. Exhaustion "My team are exhausted, we have to say that. We played too many games during the past two months," Gharib added, referring to Egypt's triumphant Nations Cup campaign in Angola.
England win fitness battle "England had around four months to rest after finishing the World Cup qualifiers last year. "They were also comfortable during the qualifiers because they ensured their progress to the World Cup early." Egypt's struggle for fitness was evident in the second half, in which England gained complete control. Zidan could not keep England defenders under pressure, Hossam Ghaly and Hosni Abd-Rabou failed to close down spaces in midfield while central defender Wael Gomaa was outshone by Crouch. "Against such a strong team, one can't afford to lose concentration," Ghaly, who plays for Saudi side Nassr, said. Egypt, who are 17th in FIFA's ranking, can still take heart from an encouraging performance against one of Europe's heavyweights. Many people would wonder how a team of this caliber failed to qualify for the World Cup. "When we played against such strong teams in the past, we used to defend to snatch a draw," head coach Hassan Shehata said. "Now we are able to match and outplay them sometimes, we are no longer inferior to them. We just have to learn from our mistakes."
