CAIRO: Two goals by Jose Mena and Marcos Urena were enough to bring the Egyptian campaign in the U-20 World Cup to a sad end in the game against Costa Rica in the round of 16 at Cairo Stadium.
The loss summed up a bad performance by the home team from the first moments of the match, despite a few individual brilliant moves by Ahmed Shokry and Mohamed Talaat. But they weren t enough to give goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado any trouble.
We conceded a goal and as usual the whole team was affected by it and couldn t return to the game. We also had bad luck creating chances and the ones we had were saved by the goalkeeper so we couldn t change the score and conceded our second, Egypt coach Miroslav Soukup said after the game.
I am the one responsible for the loss the same way I am responsible for victories, he added.
Cost Rica played as good in defense as Paraguay which caused us trouble unlike Italy s game which was open, so we played better, Soukup said.
They defended with seven players so we tried to play the ball on the ground but we failed so we tried to play long balls but it was also a failure, he added.
While Costa Rica started with a 3-4-3 formation putting Egyptian players under heavy pressure, Talaat was left as a lone striker with support from Shokry on the right side and Hossam Arafat from the left.
Talaat had the first chance of the game five minutes in after he took advantage of a Costa Rican defensive error but his shot went wide. Talaat again had a close header denied by the keeper in the 19th minute.
In the 21st minute, Salah Solieman failed in man-marking Jose Mena only to find him netting Los Ticos first with a header using an excellent free kick from the left side.
Following the goal, Cost Rica continued its defensive pressure cutting links between midfield and Talaat until Shokry responded in the 29th minute dribbling with the ball from the right side but his shot went over the bar.
Ten minutes later Ahmed Hegazy s header proved too easy for Alvarado to handle. Costa Rica quickly responded through Diego Madrigal after Solieman slipped on the ground to find himself in front of the goal but his shot went right past the post.
In the second half, Egypt pressured Costa Rica in their defensive zone; however eight players were enough to quash any threats to their goal.
With little time left and pressure mounting from 80,000 fans, Soukup tried to change things by taking out Arafat and Shokry and fielding strikers Ahmed “Boogy Fathy and Mostafa “Afroto Mahmoud.
However, both players failed to have an impact.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica stayed lethal in counter attacks and had more than a few chances for scoring through Madrigal and substitute Jorge Castro.
Mostafa Galal, who replaced Mohamed Hesham, came really close to scoring for Egypt in this half through a header that went close beside the post.
Afroto s perfectly executed free kick in the 84th minute was saved heroically by Alvarado; in the 89th minute Marcos Urena ended any hopes for Egypt to equalize through his shot that raised the score to 2-0.
The defeat irked Egyptian fans who started throwing empty water bottles on the pitch, hitting players, organizers and broadcast channels staff to the discontent of FIFA officials present in the stadium.
Fans didn’t stop despite continuous calls from stadium officials to help keep the tournament a success; the referee threatened that he would call the game off after fans pointed laser beams at Costa Rica’s goalkeeper.
On the other hand, Costa Rican coach, Ronald Gonzalez expressed his satisfaction with the win, saying he was expecting it.
It was a great and charming atmosphere to play in; the Egyptian team is very good but we studied them well and it worked out, Gonzalez told reporters after the game.
Costa Rica will play against the winner from UAE and Venezuela.
Soukup’s contract ends by the end of October, according to him; he will present a detailed report to the Egyptian football association.
In other games, Ghana edged through South Africa 2-1 in the extra time through Dominic Adiyah and Andre Ayew while Kermit Erasmus scored for South Africa.
Hungary kept their nerves cool against the Czech Republic as they won 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw in extra time; Hungary now prepares for Italy in the quarter finals.
Surprises continued in the round of 16 as all favorites crashed out, except for Ghana, leaving possibilities open for potential title holders.
