Salem Aldawsari celebrates his goal against Egypt

Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt: The Pharaohs finish World Cup campaign pointless

Football

Mon June 25, 2018 · 6y ago

Salem Al Dawsari struck an injury-time winner as Saudi Arabia recorded their first World Cup win since 1994 by beating Mohamed Salah's Egypt 2-1.

Reports of Salah quitting international football dominated the build-up to this dead rubber in Group A but he briefly set the speculation to one side by opening the scoring with his second goal of the competition.

The Pharaohs ended a miserable tournament pointless, though, after a controversial penalty from Salman Al Faraj and Al Dawsari's dramatic late strike turned the game around.

The two teams came into their final group game having already been eliminated from the competition following defeats to Uruguay and hosts Russia.

Liverpool forward Salah initially appeared to have been left out of his country's starting line-up before a team-sheet mistake was quickly corrected.

The 25-year-old's relationship with the Egyptian FA was strained leading up to the tournament due to a sponsorship row taking focus away from preparations, while he is reportedly disappointed at how he has been used for political gain by administrators.

Recent criticism received after he was pictured with controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, accused of numerous human rights violations, has apparently only contributed to the player's unhappiness.

He soon underlined his importance on the pitch though, calmly lifting the ball over advancing goalkeeper Yasser Al Mosailem in the 22nd minute after latching on to a raking pass forward.

It was Egypt's first goal from open play at a World Cup since 1934 and Salah, who converted a penalty against Russia in their second group game, should have doubled the advantage minutes later.

He broke clear on goal but, after drawing Al Mosailem, uncharacteristically dinked wide of the right-hand post.

Saudi Arabia, whose last World Cup win came 12 games and 24 years ago, worked their way back into the contest and were presented with a golden chance to level when referee Wilmar Roldan awarded them a penalty after penalising Ahmed Fathy for handball.

Fahad Al Muwallad took the spot-kick but his powerful effort was tipped onto the crossbar by Egypt's 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary - the oldest player to appear at a World Cup.

Juan Antonio Pizzi's side were soon given a chance to make amends, in contentious circumstances.

Colombian official Roldan adjudged Egypt defender Ali Gabr had impeded Al Muwallad inside the box in first-half added time and awarded a second spot-kick.

The two players appeared to have hold of each other but, after taking more than three minutes to consult VAR and watch replays of the incident, Roldan stuck with his initial decision, allowing Al Faraj to send El Hadary the wrong way from 18 yards.

The second half was a far more tight affair and looked set to end in stalemate until Al Dawsari drove home with the last kick of the game to leave Egypt pointless and bottom of Group A.

It was a disappointing World Cup for Mo Salah

Goal videos

Mo Salah - Saudi Arabia 0-1 Egypt

Penalty miss - Saudi Arabia 0-1 Egypt

Salman Al-Faraj - Saudi Arabia 1-1 Egypt

Salem Aldawsari - Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt

Opta facts

Saudi Arabia ended a run of 12 World Cup matches without winning (D2 L10), recording their first victory since June 1994 when they won 1-0 against Belgium.
This was Egypt’s seventh match at the World Cup without winning (D2 L5) – only Honduras have played more times at the World Cup without recording a win (9).
Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, at the age of 45 years and 161 days, is the oldest player in the history of the World Cup, breaking the record set by Colombia’s Faryd Mondragon in 2014 (43y 3d).
Egypt’s Essam El Hadary became the second goalkeeper at the 2018 World Cup to save a penalty on his debut, after Iceland’s Hannes Thór Halldórsson, who did so against Argentina.
This match was the first time Egypt have ever led in a World Cup match, in what was their seventh match in the competition.
Egypt’s Mohamed Salah became the first African player to score in his first two appearances at the World Cup, scoring against Russia on MD2 and Saudi Arabia today.
Salman Al Faraj’s penalty goal for Saudi Arabia, scored after 50 minutes and 36 seconds, was the latest goal scored in the first half of a World Cup game since 1966.
36% of Saudi Arabia’s goals at the World Cup have been scored from the penalty spot (4 of 11).
Between the 1982 and 2014 World Cup tournaments, there were no instances of a team taking two first-half penalties – there have been two in as many days at the 2018 World Cup (England v Panama on June 24, Saudi Arabia v Egypt today).
Saudi Arabia midfielder Abdullah Otayf completed 110 passes in this match, the most by an Asian player in a World Cup match since 1966.