VANCOUVER: Mohamed Salah inspired Egypt to their first-ever World Cup win as they came from a goal down to beat New Zealand 3-1 with a brilliant second-half display on Sunday (Jun 21), moving top of Group G and boosting their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
After a relatively quiet first half that saw them go in behind at the break, Egypt and Salah turned up the heat in the second period as the 34-year-old winger showed he is still capable of conjuring magic from his boots.
“It’s a great achievement for all the players. It’s a great win. It’s a great vibe. The next game is very important,” Salah said as he took the plaudits amongst his teammates.
Egypt, who drew 1-1 with Belgium in their opener, moved top of the group with four points from two matches. The All Whites, held 2-2 by Iran in their opener, are bottom with one point. Belgium were held 0-0 by the Iranians earlier on Sunday.
New Zealand’s first-half gameplan was as simple as it was effective, kicking long when they needed to and keeping possession when they could, and defender Finn Surman broke the deadlock from a corner, losing marker Ahmed Fatouh before steering a powerful header into the net.
Though Callum McCowatt had a glancing header tipped over the bar early on for New Zealand, Egypt piled on the pressure after the break and they levelled through Mostafa Zico, who headed home Mohamed Hany’s cross from the right in the 58th minute.
Salah then finally gave the crowd what they wanted nine minutes later, breaking forward down the right and playing a one-two with Zico before slotting the ball into the far corner.
