Gedo brace gives Egypt easy win over Mauritania

Region: Egypt Mohamed Nagy ‘Gedo’ scored twice as Egypt defeated unfancied Mauritania 3-0 on Sunday for their second successive win in their ongoing training camp in the United Arab Emirates.

Ahly striker Emad Meteb was also on the scoresheet as Egypt coach Bob Bradley continued to experiment with his squad ahead of the African Nations Cup and World Cup qualifying campaigns.

The Pharaohs are holding successive training camps in the Arab Gulf region to make up for lack of domestic action after the Egyptian Premier League was called off in the wake of the Port Said disaster.

Egypt, who have tasted only one friendly defeat since Bradley took over, kicked off their camp in the UAE with a 3-2 victory over a second-string Nigeria side last Thursday. They are scheduled to face Iraq on 17 April before returning home.

American boss Bradley fielded an offensive line-up that featured two strikers, Emad Meteb and Gedo, and three attacking midfielders in Walid Soliman, Ahmed Hassan and Ashour El-Taqui.

Egypt laid siege to Mauritania’s area from the very beginning, launching a wave of attacks that resulted in a 25th-minute opener.

ENPPI left-back Mohamed Nassef, who played in that position in a high-profile friendly against Brazil last year, skipped past his marker down the left before whipping in a right-footed cross for Gedo to tower unmarked and head home.

He doubled the lead five minutes later when Mauritania keeper Souleymane Diallo fumbled a cross into his path for an easy tap-in into an empty net.

The Ahly forward also won the penalty which allowed Egypt to go 3-0 ahead when he went down under a clumsy challenge from a Mauritania defender six minutes before the break.

His club teammate Meteb dispatched the ensuing penalty into the bottom corner of the net. Egypt had at least four more penalty claims waved away by the referee, including two clear handballs.

Egypt eased off in a dull second half as they struggled to create genuine goal-scoring opportunities. Mauritania had some tame efforts through several long-range shots.