France and Argentina bid farewell early
El-Shennawy's brilliance and Hamdi and Rayan's goals lead Egypt to face Brazil
Great joy for the players of Egypt after qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Reuters
Egyptian national team goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy.
Reuters
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The Egyptian national football team hit a date with Brazil in the quarter-finals of the football competitions in the Tokyo Olympics, after it passed the difficult third group yesterday by occupying second place behind Spain with four points.
The Pharaohs overcame Australia's obstacle by defeating them with two goals without a response, signed by Ahmed Yasser Rayan (45) and the substitute Ammar Hamdi (86), while Spain tied 1-1 with Argentina, to leave the latter early.
In the biggest surprises of the tournament, the French team was eliminated by a severe 4-0 loss against Japan in the first, while Brazil and Ivory Coast qualified for the quarter-finals as well, and Germany was eliminated, after the defending champion defeated Saudi Arabia 3-1 and the African team drew against the runner-up of the previous session, Germany 1-1.
Japan will face New Zealand in the quarter-finals on January 31, while Mexico will meet with South Korea, Brazil with Egypt, and Spain with Ivory Coast.
The Egyptian team performed the best compared to what it appeared against the Spanish and Argentine teams, after their national coach Shawky Gharib was freed from defensive caution.
The Egyptian team owes this victory to its veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy, who defended his goal valiantly, especially in the second half, in which he saved seven chances for the Australian team.
The "Pharaohs" entered the Kangaroo meeting with a clear offensive rush, and his striker Salah Mohsen could score in the fifth minute of a confrontation with goalkeeper Glover, but he threw the ball over the crossbar.
The Egyptian attempts continued on the defenses of Australia, which suffered several problems, especially on the periphery, but all attempts were unsuccessful until Ramadan Sobhi was able to make a distinguished individual effort from the left side, evading defender Ruffles, to pass the ball between his feet, and Ahmed Yasser Rayan awarded a ball on a plate of Gone had no difficulty in depositing the net.
The danger of the Australian team appeared in the second half, but El-Shennawy excelled in blocking Jenrao's shot.
And he returned to shine again by removing Michalfi's shot, which he put in a difficult place to be removed by the Egyptian goalkeeper with his fingertips.
Substitute Hamdi succeeded in securing the victory by scoring the second goal after a good follow-up to Nasser Mansi's shot, which bounced from the goalkeeper to deposit it into the net.
Quarter-final matches (31 January)
Japan - New Zealand
Spain - Ivory Coast
South Korea - Mexico
Brazil - Egypt
• France received a heavy loss from Japan 0-4.
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