There was no surprise in the last match of Group G between Egypt and the United States of America. The African side left no hope for the USA, claimed their third win at the World Championship and closed the group standings with all six points. The USA’s dream of the main round now lies in the hands of Croatia and Morocco.
The United States of America started strong. Goalkeeper Nicolas Aaron Robinson from San Francisco CalHeat Team stopped three straight Egypt attacks, keeping the score at 1:1 in his first minutes at the 2022 Men’s World Championship.
A strong defensive display, which lasted only for a short time, kept Egypt from scoring for almost four minutes, with Mohab Abdelhak starting the goal run and Omar El-Wakil finishing it for a three-goal lead. From that moment on, it seemed to be one-way traffic as Egypt scored three more easy goals through fast breaks and breakthroughs.
The USA goals were coming in a five minute span as Alexandre Chan Blanco netted for 10:4. The inexperienced American team could not keep up with the much more agile Egyptian squad, who also gave opportunities to some new players and rested others. Nevertheless, team captain Mohamed Mamdouh Shebib and goalkeeper Karim Hendawy were back in the game after resting against Morocco.
With the ninth turnover in the match, the USA allowed their opponents to widen the gap to 14:8 and Hendawy’s 50% save efficiency was not in their favour either. When you add that the USA converted only 36% of all shots, you can see the reason behind the constant growth of the gap. By half time, Egypt propelled to 19:7.
Egypt opened the second part of the match with a 4-0 goal run and the USA welcomed their first goal in the 39th minute when Domagoj Sršen intercepted Egypt’s attack and assisted Samuel Hoddersen for their first fast break in the match, setting 23:8.
Egypt reached their biggest lead in the match around the 54th minute of the match in a slow cruise to their third consecutive win. Ahmed Mohamed netted for 31:12. Until the final whistle, the USA’s Amar Amitović was precise from the left back, scoring his team’s three last goals and becoming the team’s top scorer.
All 14 players in Egypt’s squad scored at least once, with both Hendawy and Mohamed Aly being very efficient between the posts, 36% and 47% save efficiency respectively. It was a great effort by the USA, a team with a lot more to learn from this experience at the World Championship.
While Egypt is ready to take on main round Group III in Malmö, carrying all four points, the USA now see the match between Croatia and Morocco. If Croatia defeats the Atlas Lions, the Americans will celebrate their maiden main round berth.
hummel Player of the Match: Mohamed Aly (Egypt)
