African champions Egypt assert continental authority over Nigeria

17 Jul. 2019

African champions Egypt assert continental authority over Nigeria

Egypt defeated a depleted Nigeria side in Vigo this evening in a match which saw 77 goals scored. The North African side won by 17 strikes to make it two wins from two in their group so far and go top ahead of the remaining two group matches later today.

GROUP B
Nigeria vs Egypt 30:47 (13:18)

Last year Egypt beat Nigeria in the CAHB Men’s African Junior Championship by 12 goals (39:27) as they went on to win the continental title, but in today’s Group B opener at the As Travesas Sports Hall in Vigo, Spain it was a more comprehensive win.

Even before Nigeria stepped on court they found themselves struggling to match their rivals having named just 12 players in their squad for Spain 2019 out of a possible 16 allowed – the exact number that Egypt had and to whom their coach Tarek Sayed El-Sayed used effectively from the bench as he fully-rotated his players ahead of a rest day tomorrow and a match against Sweden on Friday (19 July).

Egypt took their time to settle though and, helped by some impressive saves by Michael Agbaji Solomon in the Nigeria goal, the Nigerians raced to a 3:0 lead before Egypt opened their account after five minutes.

But Nigeria stood strong, despite having Suleiman Usman carried off court with an injury. In a show of great sportsmanship, three Egyptian players helped carry him to the sidelines with the Egyptians offering the services of their doctor and physio to help with his recovery.

Solomon continued to impress, thanks to a double seven-metre save, but Egypt finally took the lead in the 14th minute (7:6) and did not look back, although Nigeria continued to show impressive glimpses - one moment saw them slot home a fantastic in-flight goal after a slick pass from Mohammed Anas to his captain Abdullahi Mohammed.

Unfortunately, with 16 technical faults in attack and a red card for Anthony Ngbede Agada after receiving three two-minute suspensions later on, Nigeria did not stand a chance against an Egyptian attack which saw eight goals apiece from Mohsen Ramadan Mahmoud and Shehab Abdalla Ahmed, and nine from Galal Ayman Khorshid, while the best player of the match, Abdelrhman Taha Ali defeated Nigeria at the other end of the court, making 14 saves in the Egyptian goal.

Best Player of the Match: Abdelrhman Taha Ali (EGY)