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Mohamed Salah inspired Egypt to their first-ever World Cup win as they came from a goal down to beat New Zealand 3-1 with a brilliant second-half display, moving top of Group G and boosting their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.
After a relatively quiet first half that saw them go in behind at the break, Egypt and Salah turned up the heat in the second period as the 34-year-old winger showed he is still capable of conjuring magic from his boots.
“It’s a great achievement for all the players. It’s a great win. It’s a great vibe. The next game is very important,” Salah said as he took the plaudits amongst his teammates.
Egypt, who drew 1-1 with Belgium in their opener, moved top of the group with four points from two matches. The All Whites, held 2-2 by Iran in their opener, are bottom with one point. Belgium were held 0-0 by the Iranians earlier on Sunday.
New Zealand’s first-half gameplan was as simple as it was effective, kicking long when they needed to and keeping possession when they could, and defender Finn Surman broke the deadlock from a corner, losing marker Ahmed Fatouh before steering a powerful header into the net.
Though Callum McCowatt had a glancing header tipped over the bar early on for New Zealand, Egypt piled on the pressure after the break and they levelled through Mostafa Ziko, who headed home Mohamed Hany’s cross from the right in the 58th minute.
Salah then finally gave the crowd what they wanted nine minutes later, breaking forward down the right and playing a one-two with Ziko before slotting the ball into the far corner.
Salah almost scored his second in the 81st minute, cutting in from the right and firing a deflected shot over, but he notched an assist from the resulting corner as substitute Trézéguet dived to head home at the near post.
The New Zealanders gave it all they had to reduce the deficit and Hossam Abdelmaguid had to be replaced late on with a suspected concussion, his eye swelling up as he left the field.
By the 10th minute of stoppage time, the Egyptian fans were whistling loudly for the referee to end the game.
When he did, an ear-splitting roar went up as Salah and company made history with the country’s first World Cup win and coach Hossam Hassan lapped the stadium with an Egyptian flag.
Egypt, pre-match favourites with Salah and Omar Marmoush spearheading the attack, were backed by a vocal crowd at BC Place. However, slack defending cost them early as New Zealand defender Finn Surman rose to power home a 15th-minute header from Tim Payne’s corner, silencing the sea of red.
