Mohamed Abou-Treika’s second-half goal gave Egypt a 1-0 away victory over Oman on Saturday in a warm-up for next week’s World Cup qualifier against Algeria.
The classy playmaker notched the winner four minutes after the restart to settle the tie in Egypt’s favor.
It was the last match for the Pharaohs before their crucial meeting with North African rivals Algeria in Blida on June seventh.
Egypt and Algeria have one point each after being held to draws by Zambia and Rwanda respectively in the first round of matches.
Harras Hodoud defender Ahmed Saied ‘Ouka’ made his Egypt debut to play at the heart of the team’s defense.
ENPPI midfielder Abdul-Aziz Tawfik was given a rare start to play alongside Hosni Abd-Rabou.
Amr Zaki was fielded as a lone striker. Abou-Treika and Mohamed Zidan played behind him.
The first half was a dull affair as chances were few and far between.
A sluggish display from Egypt helped Oman carve out a clear-cut chance after 29 minutes.
Mohamed Al-Shiba’s acrobatic volley from a left-wing cross was brilliantly tipped over by Egypt keeper Essam Al-Hadari after some poor marking from Ouka.
Zaki thought he had put the visitors in front on the stroke of halftime when he latched onto a chipped pass from Abd-Rabou to slot home but his goal was ruled out for offside.
Zaki Injury
Abou-Treika broke the deadlock against the run of play on 49 minutes.
Ahli’s full-back Sayed Moawad, who was one of Egypt’s best performers in the match, darted down the left and sent in a low cross for Abou-Treika to produce a neat finish with the outside of his right foot.
Zaki sustained a facial injury in farcical fashion moments later.
He was jumping for joy to celebrate Egypt’s opener but inadvertently bashed heads with teammate Ahmed Eid.
Coach Hassan Shehata opted to take him off and introduce Ismaili midfielder Ahmed Khairi in a bid to have Zaki available for the anticipated Algeria clash.
Oman could have leveled the score on two occasions as they piled on pressure.
Khalifa Ayil was unlucky to see his fierce shot strike the bar on 69 minutes while Mansour Al-Naimi shot wide with the goal at his mercy eight minutes later.
