Egypt 5 – Tanzania 1 or how to mix things up for Saadane and avoid injuries!!

Now since Algerian coach Rabeh Sadaane had his hands on classified information, about our players that he got from the international intelligence services after a successful behind enemy lines espionage mission; , information that even our players don’t know about themselves, we were put in a difficult situation.

Under these conditions we had to play our friendly against Tanzania, aired live on air on almost all Egyptian channels; put yourself in Shehata’s shoes, having nothing more to keep secret, all your cards have been exposed…what will you do?

Well, Shehata disappointed all those who were eager to watch Tanzania’s friendly to see a preview of how the Egyptian team will look like in Algeria’s game and adopted a counter espionage tactic based on the following:

1- Mix the players; putting that instead of this and this instead of that.

Moawad played in midfield, Barakat played in the left wing, Homos played in defense, no play maker, Fathi played in Midfield…….etc.

2- start with a false formation

Still it is the authentic 3-5-2 formation but do not expect these open spaces in defense; with the return of Shawky, Hosni and Zidan, expect radical changes in the tactics; more offensive but more cautious in defense

3- change the team In the second half

None of the eleven players of the first half continued till the end and none of the second half’s players will play next Saturday, with the exception of one or two maybe.

4- spark speculation over injured players

a conventional tactic used by the other camp; everyday we are bombarded with news of one or two Algerian players being injured which makes one wonder, is there enough players to play next week in Cairo?!! Seriously, this is an old-fashioned and somehow naive tactic in the age of internet and open media.

Back to the game

The over-all performance was good, regardless of the opponent, the team work and chemistry between the players is better than before also the tactical flexibility shown by Moawad and Barakat was eye-catching; one never knew what is there position in the field, one time they are in the flanks, the other they are in midfield and some times they were sending assists.

The return of Meteb and Zaki who is beginning to restore some of his form and scoring his first goal from open play since ages are all good signs and provide Shehata with more options in attack and may even change the whole game plan.

Tanzania’s goal is hard to swallow but with their performance one could never expect that they have a player who can shoot from this far and hit the goal; plus, the lack of any Tanzanian attack left Egyptian defense untested and players started to loose concentration.

What should be noted though is that shooting from distance is a usual tactic used by Algeria and we have to never give them the space to do this and El Hadary has to expect long range shots and be able to deal with it.

Some would say that the opponent is weak and the game is meaningless; somehow true, but playing a competitive game is better than training sessions which no matter how serious they are can’t put a player to the test.

One thing I couldn’t understand is why Tanzania’s players were rough in their play, they almost got one or two players injured; our players on the other hand interfered in unneeded challenges that could have cost them a lot.

All in all, the game serves as a confidence booster, especially for Meteb and Zaki; now with the return of foreign based professionals things will get even better, and all what remains is the roars of 80 thousand Egyptian fans in Cairo stadium and lady luck joining our camp.

By the way, this is a video of the goals leaked from the national team’s intelligence archives……enjoy