Egypt eased into the 2011 U-20 World Cup round of 16 with a thumping 4-0 victory over Austria on Friday to set up a crunch meeting with six-time champions Argentina. Zamalek forward Mohamed Ibrahim netted a fortunate second-half hat-trick after Austria captain Michael Schimpelsberger had scored an ill-fated own goal before the break. The young Pharaohs finished second of Group E though after claiming their seventh point to level with leaders Brazil, who also crushed Panama 4-0 to retain top spot on goal difference. Egypt coach Diaa Al-Sayed rested a number of key players including trio Omar Gaber, Mohamed Hamdi and Ahmed Tawfik, who were all walking a suspension tightrope. The African giants were gifted a goal on 31 minutes when Mohamed Ghazi's shot seemed to be going wide, only for the ball to hit the body of Schimpelsberger and take a wicked deflection above the stranded keeper into the net. After the break, Ibrahim claimed his first goal with a lot of help from Austria keeper Samuel Radlinger, who fumbled the Egypt forward's innocuous shot through his grasp. Two minutes later, Ibrahim grabbed his brace when he hit an empty net with an easy finish after Radlinger had done well to thwart Mohamed Al-Nenni. Eight minutes from time, Ibrahim completed his treble, scoring an even easier goal from two yards out, following the Austria keeper's save to a header from substitute Hussein Al-Sayed. The Zamalek starlet became the tournament's joint-top scorer with the first hat-trick of the finals.
