Full time: Egypt 6-0 Niger




The referee blows his final whistle, Egypt start their reign under Javier Aguirre with an impressive 6-0 win over Niger 

90+1' A low shot from Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny deflects off a defender and wrong-foots the keeper for Egypt's sixth goal. 

90+1' GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL FOR EGYPT!!!

90' Salah almost grabs a hat-trick! Salah Mohsen tries to feed him in front of an open goal but his overly-hit pass goes past the Liverpool man. 

89' The referee adds three minutes of stoppage time. 

85' It's Mohamed Salah again! Mo heads home following a pinpoint cross from Elmohamady. 

85' GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL FOR EGYPT!!!

85' Egypt can still add a fifth before the final whistle as they lay siege to Niger's area. 

80' Defender Baher El-Mohamadi is also booked. 

77' Egypt defender Ahmed Hegazi receives a yellow card and will miss the next match. 

74' Egypt make their third substitution; Hussein El-Shahat replaces Mahmoud Trezeguet. 

73' Substitute Salah Mohsen makes it 4-0, feed Salah and running onto his return pass to send an angled shot into the far bottom corner. 

73' GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL FOR EGYPT!!!

73' El-Shennawi palms away another shot from Niger. 

70' Egypt's long balls are still causing endless problems for Niger's poor defence! 

67' Substitute Salah Mohsen cuts inside his challenger in the area but his subsequent shot is too weak to trouble the keeper. 

64' The tempo is very slow in the second half, unlike the first. Egypt remain in control but without creating goal-scoring chances. 

62' Salah volleys over the advancing keeper but his effort misses the target. 

58' Egypt keeper El-Shennawi tips over a powerful long-range shot from Ousmane Diabate in Niger's second effort of the match. 

57' Egypt make a double substitution; Ahly's Salah Mohsen replaces club teammate Marwan Mohsen and winger Amr Warda replaces Aly Ghazal.  

53' Niger push forward, will they be able to narrow the gap? 

50' Egypt ease off a bit in the early stages of the second half. 

48' The first chance for Niger! A low shot from Youssouf Oumarou goes just wide of the post. 

The second half is underway 

45' The referee blows his halftime whistle

40' An effort from Aly Ghazal after a goal-mouth scramble is denied by the crossbar! 

39' Trezeguet is denied a clear penalty! He skips past the keeper and falls down after being challenged by a defender but the referee waves play on! 

38' Niger's Moussa Maazou receives a yellow card. 

36' Salah breaks clear again after another long ball behind the defence but his square pass to Trezeguet at the far post is intercepted. 

33' Salah almost makes it 4-0! But his chipped effort deflects off a defender and goes out for a corner. 

29' Salah's penalty is saved again but he scores on the rebound, to become the third all-time top scorer of the Egyptian national team. 

29' GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL FOR EGYPT!!!

28' Trezeguet rounds the keeper, who trips him as the referee points to the spot. 

28' PENALTY FOR EGYPT!!!

25' Marwan Mohsen wastes another opportunity! His tame shot is saved by the keeper when well-positioned to score. 

23' Egypt's swift passes leave Niger chasing shadows. 

20' Left-back Ayman Ashraf makes it 2-0 in bizarre fashion! His original cross finds defender Mahamadou Souley, who heads it straight back to Ashraf instead of clearing it and he makes no mistake with a sliding effort as the ball rolls into the bottom corner of the empty net. 

20' GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL FOR EGYPT!!!

18' Mahmoud Trezeguet spurns another clear-cut chance! He goes clear after another astute pass from Salah but his low shot goes just wide. 

16' Egypt look likely to double their advantage soon! They are in complete control of the game. 

13' Marwan Mohsen opens the scoring! He is released by a superb defence-splitting pass from Salah, flicks it and volleys into the bottom corner past Daouda. 

13' GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL FOR EGYPT!!!

10' Striker Marwan Mohsen also has a header that narrowly misses the target following a corner from Salah. 

9' Another golden chance for Egypt!! Ahmed Elmohamady whips in an inviting cross for Salah, who rises unmarked but his tame header goes into the hands of Daouda. 

7' A low Egypt cross causes mayhem in the area but keeper Kassaly Daouda collects the ball before Salah gets on the end of it. 

4' Ahmed Hegazy goes close with a header that goes just over the bar! Egypt pile on pressure from the early stages. 

3' Salah wastes the penalty! His effort is saved by the keeper, who dives the right way. 

2' Salah goes down under a challenge after being picked out by a pass from Elneny.

1' PENALTY FOR EGYPT!!!

The match is underway 


19:25 Players are warming up.

18:45 This is Aguirre first ever lineup for Egypt and he made some surprising choices. He opted for a 4-3-3 formation instead of a 4-2-3-1 adopted by his predecessor Hector Cuper. The Mexican fielded uncapped defender Baher El-Mohamadi and left out regular starter Ali Gabr. Vancouver defender Ali Ghazal is making a rare start after being dropped from the squad over the past months.

18:30 Egypt’s starting XI: Mohamed El-Shennawi – Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Ayman Ashraf, Baher El-Mohamadi – Tarek Hamed, Ali Ghazal, Mohamed Elneny – Mohamed Salah, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Marwan Mohsen.

18:00 Two hours until kick off. Stadium is quite empty yet. Sources in the Egyptian FA have revealed that the tickets sales haven't been great so far.

17:15 All the eyes will be watching especially that all Egyptian football fans and experts will be expecting offensive football.

16:30 Aguirre's squad selection showed that he intends to inject fresh blood into the team, having left out several veterans including Ahly's right-back Ahmed Fathi and Saudi-based left-back Mohamed Abdel-Shafi, both of whom were regulars under Cuper.

15:45 There were also some first call-ups for players who excelled in the early stages of the Egyptian Premier League season, including Dakhleya's attacking midfielder Eslam Gaber, Ismaily midfielder Mohamed Sadek and Ahly forward Salah Mohsen.

15:00 "Cuper's achievement of guiding the team to the World Cup finals deserves respect, but all must know that there will be a new era and we will start our work from point zero.

"I aim to strike a balance between defence and attack. Firstly, the ball must be with us and then we should turn our dominance into goals and finally the result is the most important thing," he added.

14:00 "I have full respect for my predecessor Hector Cuper, but I have my own strategy that I want to apply with the Egyptian team," Aguirre said after taking over at the team.

14:00 In doing so, he is aware he needs to change a much-maligned defensive strategy and adopt a bolder approach.

13:30 Cuper's contract was not renewed and the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) acted quickly, bringing in former Mexico coach Aguirre who vowed to turn around the team's fortunes.

13:20 However, Egypt still lacked imagination in the final third and Cuper was widely blamed for an embarrassing campaign in Russia that saw the team lose all three Group A games to bow out in disappointing fashion, having failed to bag a single point after some error-ridden displays.

12:25 Cuper, a canny Argentinean boss, proved a shrewd tactician in his more than three years at the helm, tightening up at the back as Egypt's defensive solidity lifted them to the 2017 Nations Cup final and led them to a place in the summer World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years.

12:00 When Egypt host Niger in an African Cup of Nations qualifier in Alexandria on Saturday, they will mark the debut of coach Javier Aguirre with an expected all-out attack scheme that stands in stark contrast to how the team used to fare under his predecessor, Hector Cuper.

Stay tuned as match is due to start at 20:00 Cairo time (GMT+2)

Venue: Borg El-Arab stadium, Aleaxnadria

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