Egypt break Jordan hearts to reach semis

Doha

• Egypt will play Tunisia in semi-final on Wednesday at Stadium 974African giants Egypt yesterday rallied from a goal deficit as they beat Jordan 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA Arab Cup at the Al Janoub Stadium in Wakra yesterday. In a battle that went into extra-time, Egypt saw Jordan take the lead through Yazan Alnaimat (12th minute). Despite conceding an early goal, the Pharaohs hit back with slick goals from Marwan Hamdy (45+1), substitute Ahmed Refaat (99th minute) and Marwan Daoud (119th minute) to complete a fighting win under lights.Egypt will now play Tunisia in the first semi-final on Wednesday at Stadium 974.It was Egypt’s third win out of four matches in the 16-team tournament where seasoned coach Carlos Queiroz has made a difference with his bold tactics. After an edgy start at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakra, the Egyptian forward line twice attacked the Jordanian goalmouth in the first few minutes but on both occasions keeper Abulaila Yazeed remained alert to thwart the threats. In the 10th minute, Jordan’s Mohamed al-Mardi curled in a spectacular shot from outside the box but keeper Mohamed El Shenawy pouched the swerving ball. Two minutes later, Jordan opened the scoring. Alnaimat, who has been in sublime form this week, produced a quick move following a cross from Ali Olwan inside the box. Without wasting a second, Alnaimat swivelled past an Egyptian defender and curled in a right-footed shot that sailed past the keeper’s outstretched left hand and crashed into the top left of the net. Three minutes later, Egypt’s Zizo on the left flank found team mate Mostafa Fathi inside the Jordan box. Airborne Fathi flicked from close range but his deflection slipped past the goalpost to the right of keeper Yazeed. Olwan, in the 20th minute, produced another threatening move from Jordan. Olwan curled in a spectacular long-range shot that was stopped by keeper El Shenawy with a dive to his right. Six minutes later, Jordan’s Noor Alrawabdeh’s long-range shot – around 30 yards from the goal - was parried away by keeper El Shenawy with a dive to his right. A similar shot by Egypt’s Zizo – who plays for Zamalek - was blocked by Jordan keeper Yazeed in the 34th minute. In a dramatic move, Jordan’s Olwan produced a blistering shot from the edge of the Egypt box but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced back. Fathi and Hussein Faisal attacked Jordan keeper twice in a few seconds but Yazeed cleared the challenges with slick defensive moves. However, in the first minute of injury time, Egypt’s Hamdy jumped high to deflect a loopy cross into the net from close range to give delight to thousands of Egyptian fans inside the stadium. In the 47th minute, Egypt’s Faisal – standing next to Jordan goal - missed the easiest of deflections from close range when he overran a cross from Fathi. In the 53rd minute, Jordan’s Alnaimat slipped a low shot from inside the box but the ball missed the goal post by a whisker.  After a flurry of attacks, Egypt’s goal-scorer Hamdy jumped high on a corner kick but his deflection from close range went agonizingly close to the Jordan crossbar in the 75th minute. With just a few seconds to go before the end of regulation time, Zizo – found by Amro Elsoulia’s long yet precise loopy cross - misfired with his close-range header. Just two minutes after resumption of play, Zizo was seemingly brought down by Jordan keeper Yazeed inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot kick but quickly sought a VAR decision. The VAR review showed Zizo had handled the ball before being pushed by keeper Yazeed resulting in the penalty being cancelled by the referee. Substitutes Mohamed Sherif and Refaat joined hands to produce the much-needed winner for Egypt in the 99th minute. Sherif, running in from the right flank, found Refaat with a near-perfect low cross. Refaat, despite under pressure from a Jordanian defender, flicked the ball home from close range to give his side the second goal. Just before the final whistle, Daoud headed home on a long cross from the flank to complete his side’s fighting win.