Mohamed Magdy Mohamed Moursy of Egypt controls the ball under pressure from Marko Stamenic of New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images
New Zealand 0
Egypt 1
A familiar pattern continued for the All Whites on Saturday morning.
Despite an impressive performance, they fell to another defeat, with a 1-0 loss to Egypt in Cairo in the first match of the W Cup.
New Zealand demonstrated they belong at this level – against a team ranked almost 70 places above them on the Fifa rankings – but had nothing tangible to show for it.
The difference was a controversial first-half penalty to the home side, converted by striker Mostafa Mohamed in the 28th minute.
Replays weren’t entirely conclusive, though the referee saw enough – via a VAR review – to decide Nando Pijnaker had brought down his opponent.
The All Whites will now feature in the tournament’s third-place playoff, against either Croatia or Tunisia.
As they have done many times in the last few years, New Zealand showed their quality in possession – with some impressive moves – but lacked end product. It was always going to be difficult without the injured Chris Wood but their decision-making in the final third, probably the most difficult aspect of the sport, wasn’t quite there.
There is something to build on, as they dominated long periods of both halves, even if Egypt carved out the better chances. Libby Cacace, in his first match as captain, was outstanding, while the midfield impressed against their highly-rated opposites.
The half turned on the penalty call. As is often the case, it was debatable. The referee initially felt Pijnaker got the ball – as he slid in to challenge Emam Ashour – but changed his mind after being called to the sideline for a VAR review. The front-on angles indicated it was a foul but the replay from the side showed the sole of Pijnaker’s boot making contact with the ball, which added to the confusion. Mohamed gave Crocombe no chance with the spot kick, a well-struck effort blasted high into the net.
The All Whites should have equalised soon afterwards, after Cacace provided a perfect cross for Mata, but the striker couldn’t keep his header down as it flashed over the crossbar from six yards.
Cacace was the main threat. Another curled delivery just eluded Mata, while the fullback passed up an opportunity to shoot earlier, electing to try to find a teammate.
The All Whites were the better side for the first 25 minutes – with some quality touches from Sarpreet Singh and Matt Garbett – but couldn’t make it count. Egypt came into the match more after the goal. Crocombe was forced into a strong near-post block, then Mahmoud Trezeguet dragged his shot wide after a clever sequence had caught Dane Ingham out of position.
Just before the hour mark New Zealand produced their best move of the match - with flowing passes that cut open the African team – but Cacace’s effort was blocked before the keeper smothered Mata on the rebound.
Singh went close, striking the top of the crossbar with a free kick from outside the area, with Ben Waine (Mata) and Ben Old (McCowatt) introduced with 25 minutes to play.
The home side hit the woodwork in the later stages – after a speculative effort from distance – with Crocombe at full stretch and the All Whites got a bit ragged in the final stanza as tiredness kicked in.
All Whites 0
Egypt 1 Mostafa Mohamed 28′ (penalty)
Halftime 1-0
OPINION: The boy from Hamilton has become a top-flight goalscoring machine.