Egypt overcame an impressive All Whites effort at the New Administrative Capital Stadium in Cairo on 22 March to advance to the final of the Acud International Football Cup tournament, "The Pharoahs" prevailing 1-0 in front of 30,200 fans. With both nations deprived of their respective talismen due to injury - Chris Wood was missed by the All Whites as much as "The Egyptian King", Mohamed Salah, for the host nation - there was a genuine lack of penetrative play in this encounter, with defences dominating the action at both ends of the park. 'Twas the visitors who first threatened after an even start, Callum McCowatt going down in the penalty area under pressure in the ninth minute. Those claims were ignored by Ivory Coast referee Clement Ksan, but within a minute the All Whites were threatening again, Liberato Cacace's inviting cross for Max Mata being cut out by Mohamed Abdelmonem, who hooked the ball over his own crossbar to maintain parity on the scoreboard. The All Whites continued to catch the eye, Cacace's left flank raids a feature of their play, as was their all-round disciplined display, which contrasted sharply with the Egyptians' efforts in this regard - they gave away free-kicks with remarkable regularity, but more often than not in areas of the park where there was little threat of Darren Bazeley's charges scoring. And that was the lone disappointment with the All Whites' performance - that lack of a cutting edge in attack. Mata did his best, but Wood he is not, and one can't help but think that the result would have been different in this contest had New Zealand's most prolific marksman been on the park. What proved to be the only goal of the contest came about after a 22nd minute incident, which saw Egypt produce their first attack of note. Emami Ashour sparked a move which also featured Mohamed Trezeguet and Mostafa Mohamed, whose clever pass saw Ashour burst into the penalty area and go down under the challenge of Nando Pijnaker. Referee Ksan waved play on, but play had to stop as Ashour had landed awkwardly on his shoulder. He was ultimately unable to continue, but while he was receiving treatment the Video Assistant Referee was having a gander at the challenge, and determined that Pijnaker hadn't made contact with the ball. This was confirmed by the on-field official once he'd reviewed the footage, and play resumed with a penalty kick, which Mohamed battered into the top corner of the net, sending Max Crocombe the wrong way in the process - 1-0 Egypt in the 29th minute. The All Whites sought instant parity, and nearly achieved it twice in the next four minutes. McCowatt and Cacace combined on the left initially, the overlapping fullback's cross being headed narrowly over the bar from ten yards by Mata. Two minutes later, Cacace careered down the left once more, this time thanks to the combination play of Clayton Lewis and Marko Stamenic. New Zealand's captain this time delivered a teasing cross into the danger zone, through the corridor of uncertainly, prompting Egyptian goalkeeper Gabaski to parry the ball away with Mata hovering with intent. Back came the Egyptians, the eye-catchingly performed Omar Marmoush fooling an opponent before slipping Mohamed through the inside right channel in the 37th minute. Crocombe dashed out quickly to save at his feet, then looked on with relief a minute later as Abdelmonem's looping

header arced over the far post on receipt of Mohamed Hamdi's corner to the near post. Before the interval, Egypt went close to doubling their advantage. Mohamed Magdy Afaha's superbly angled pass found Hamdi racing in behind the All Whites' defence. His pull-back from the by-line invited Trezeguet to let fly, but he directed his volley across the face of goal. The All Whites looked to hit back on the stroke of half-time through Matt Garbett, who claimed a handball by the retreating figure of Hamdi when his cross struck the fullback in first half stoppage time. Never in a month of Sundays was this going to be a penalty, and referee Ksan rightly ignored Garbett's impassioned pleas. The second spell began with the All Whites again enjoying the early ascendancy, Lewis in particular catching the eye. His 52nd minute free-kick picked out McCowatt, who headed the ball on into the goalmouth. An Egyptian defender attempted to head clear, but succeeded only in directing the sphere against Michael Boxall, off whom it ricocheted narrowly past the post. Seven minutes later, Lewis and McCowatt combined again, this time rewarding another Cacace run. He was crowded out by Egyptian defenders, but Mata was right there to exploit the opening. Alas for the striker, so was Gabaski, who anticipated the situation well and saved at Mata's feet. After Marmoush blazed wide upon being played through the inside right channel by Mohamed Hamy, Gabaski was forced into a hurried clearance with Mata bearing down on him at a great rate of knots, the goalkeeper having been sold short by an under-hit Hamdi back-pass. Twenty minutes from time, Sarpreet Singh unleashed a twenty yard free-kick round the wall which flew past Gabaski, only to crash against the crossbar - desperately close, but, sadly for the All Whites, as close as they were to get to levelling the scores. For Egypt came on strong in the final fifteen minutes, Mohamed turning and unleashing a shot inches over the bar from inside the 'D' on receipt of a pass from Rami Rabia. Soon after, Crocombe saved at the feet of Mohamed, Marmoush having created the opening with an incisive run. Twelve minutes from time, Marmoush turned provider again, Trezeguet the beneficiary this time, but his cross was cut out by Pijnaker, at the expense of a corner. This was cleared to Marwan Attia, some thirty-five yards from goal, from where he hit a thunderous swerving drive which Crocombe did brilliantly well to tip onto the post and to safety. That was the last chance of the game, the result of which saw Egypt joined in the four-team tournament final by eventual Acud International Football Cup winners Croatia. The All Whites' reward was a third place play-off against Tunisia, a match which finished scoreless and saw the African team prevail 4-2 on penalties to claim a third-placed finish. Egypt:          Gabaski; Hany, Rabia, Abdelmonem, Hamdi (Shokry, 90); Ashour (H. Fathi, 29), Attia, Magdy Afaha (Tawfik, 81); Marmoush (M. Fathi, 90), Mohamed (Shamy, 81), Trezeguet (booked, 52 (Sherif, 81) All Whites:     Crocombe; Ingham (Bindon, 82), Boxall (booked, 49), Pijnaker, Cacace; Garbett (Barbarouses, 82), Lewis (Just, 85), Singh, Stamenic (booked, 89), McCowatt (Old, 69); Mata (Waine, 69) Referee:     Clement Ksan (Ivory Coast)