Egypt suffered a heartbreaking loss to Uruguay in their opener at World Cup 2018.  The Jose Gimenez header in the 89th minute put a damper on what was otherwise a pretty solid opening for Egypt at the 2018 World Cup.  Here are a few observations from Egypt’s first World Cup match in 28 years:

Observation #1: Egypt’s defensive gameplan was effective,until it wasn’t

Egypt went into this match with a very defensive minded, cautious approach to their opener against Uruguay and I think they executed it relatively well.  For most of that match, Egypt closed down on Uruguayan attackers and tried to win back possession rather than absorbing pressure. They were able to tackle effectively and really kept Uruguay in check through most of the match.  It did help that it seemed like Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani weren’t quite themselves on the pitch, missing several chances throughout the match. The most notable was Luis Suarez’s gaffe in the 24th minute with a missed shot into the side netting only a few feet out from goal.  I think in particular, Egypt’s fullbacks, Ahmed Fathy and Mohamed Abdel Shafy, were very effective at hanging back and quelling Uruguay on the counterattack with smart and decisive tackles. I think the problem is that defending like that is a mental Olympic sport and Egypt was great at it for 89 minutes but unfortunately, soccer matches are 90 minutes.  A dumb foul was made on the right wing, outside of the box and Uruguay put away a great free kick for the win.

Observation #2: Mohamed Salah should have gone in the match

I wholeheartedly agreed with Hector Cuper’s decision not to start Salah today against Uruguay.  There was no need to rush him back from his shoulder injury and it would be better to have Salah 100% for the match against Russia than risk injury in a match against Uruguay that they didn’t have a great chance of winning.  That being said, I really think that Salah should have come in as a substitute in the waning minutes of this match. I don’t think he would have scored or won the match for them but I think his presence alone would have made Uruguay think twice about how aggressive they could be.  Salah is one of the few players whose mere presence on the pitch makes defenses constantly keep one eye on him and keep their aggressive instincts at bay for fear of Salah walloping them on the counter. Additionally, I would imagine Salah joining them on the pitch would have galvanized Egypt with some energy that they were running out of towards the end of the match.

Observation 3: Egypt has a very good young goalkeeper moving forward

Mohamed El-Shenawy, the young keeper with 4 caps to his name, was brilliant for Egypt today.  El-Shenawy made brilliant saves on serious goal scoring opportunities from Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani in the 73rd and 83 minutes respectively.  El-Shenawy had no chance on the game winning goal from Jose Gimenez. Playing in the Egyptian Premier League for Al Ahly, I never really got a chance to see any video of him play but after watching today’s match, I can see how Egypt found the confidence to start a man with only 4 caps in their first World Cup game in 28 years.

Today’s loss for Egypt was a tough pill to swallow but getting out of this group is still well within their graps.  Their next match on June 19th will be pivotal against a Russian team that is better than we thought before the tournament started but not nearly as good as their 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia would suggest.  This will be a must win match if Egypt has hopes of getting though the group stages. If they can win against Russia in St. Petersburg, their hope is to have the same kind of target practice match against the Saudis to put them through to the next round.