MY ACCOUNT
Belgium’s final warm-up match before the World Cup ended in defeat as Mostafa Mohamed and Trezeguet struck to earn Egypt a 2-1 victory in Kuwait.
Mohamed took advantage of an uncharacteristic mistake from Kevin De Bruyne to fire the Pharaohs into the lead, before Trezeguet scored a minute after half-time to put them two goals to the good.
Lois Openda reduced the deficit with a close-range finish, but they could not find an equaliser as Roberto Martinez’s men fell to a second consecutive defeat.
The defeat exposed¬ serious defensive deficiencies for Belgium ahead of their trip to Qatar, where they are hoping to better their run to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup.
Belgium hit the bar within 10 minutes when Michy Batshuayi rattled the woodwork, though replays later showed the former Chelsea man was clearly offside.
After Thibaut Courtois twice denied Trezeguet, Arthur Theate sent a long-range curler looping onto the top of the net.
Mohamed gave Egypt the lead, capitalising on De Bruyne’s poor touch before side-footing beautifully into the bottom right corner from outside the box.
Mohamed El Shenawy then made a big stop to save Yannick Carrasco’s fierce drive and preserve his side’s lead heading into the interval.
Egypt doubled their lead moments after the break, Trezeguet latching onto Mohamed Salah’s excellent throughball before rifling home as Belgium continued to look shaky at the back.
Martinez’s men screamed for a penalty when half-time substitute Openda was felled by Ahmed Hegazy, but a VAR review decided not to award a spot-kick.
Belgium pressed to pull a goal back but they struggled to break though Egypt’s resolute defence, with Youri Tielemans firing well over from range almost out of frustration.
They did find a goal back through Openda when he was picked out by a superb Carrasco cross, but they could not kick on and find an equaliser.
What does it mean? Belgium head to World Cup out of form
Belgium are ranked second in the world by FIFA, but they looked a million miles from that against Egypt in both attack and defence.
Martinez’s men rarely threatened and completed the match with just 0.64 xG (expected goals). They also looked a liability at the back despite holding 67.4 per cent of the possession as Egypt finished with a superior 0.76 xG.
Terrific Trezeguet
Trezeguet was a constant threat and could have finished with more than just the one goal had his finishing been more clinical.
The former Aston Villa man finished the game with four shots, all on target, while he ranked highest on his team for touches in Belgium’s box (three) and total xG (0.61).
Rare De Bruyne mistake
Egypt were set on their way to victory by De Bruyne’s heavy touch when in seemingly no danger just outside his own penalty area, which Mohamed ruthlessly punished.
The Manchester City midfielder was taken off at the break after a poor 45 minutes by his lofty standards, failing to register a shot or a touch in Egypt’s box as his usual attacking output was missing.
What’s next?
Belgium get their World Cup campaign underway against Canada on Wednesday, while Egypt’s absence from the tournament means they will not be back in action until 2023.
