By Izuchukwu Okosi
Egypt beat Australia 4-2 on penalties Friday night in Dallas to reach the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup at the expense of Australia.
The game had ended 1-1 after 120 minutes of action and needed to be settled with the shootout.
Emam Ashour headed Egypt into early lead in the 13th minute
Australia equalised in the 55th minute no thanks to Mohammed Hany’s own goal after he inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net from a free kick.
As the time ticked on, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan introduced former Aston Villa forward Trezeguet in place of defender Karim Hafez in search of goals.
Egypt still had to deal with some onslaught from the Socceroos especially from the left side of the north Africans.
Australia goalkeeper Patrick Beach produced an elastic one-handed save deep in added time to deny Egypt’s Ramy Rabia.
A minimum of five minutes was added after regulation time but the game had to go into extra time as both sides failed to nick a late winner in 90 minutes.
The World Cup has not seen Salah with the magic he possesses as he got close to a World Cup goal in 2026 albeit the ‘Egyptian Messi’ skied his effort high and wide off target in the extra time.
A clever Ramy Rabia roll of the ball down the middle of the post, Mohamed Salah’s chip, an excellent composure from Hossam Abdelmaguid put Egypt into the last 16.
Australia’s Souttar and Herrington miss as Egypt wins on penalties.
Egypt will face Argentina or Cape Verde in the last 16.
