Belgium 1-2 Egypt: Martinez's men beaten in final warm-up

By Sports Desk November 18, 2022 662

Belgium's final warm-up match before the World Cup ended in defeat as Mostafa Mohamed and Trezeguet struck to earn Egypt a 2-1 victory in Kuwait.

Mohamed took advantage of an uncharacteristic mistake from Kevin De Bruyne to fire the Pharaohs into the lead, before Trezeguet scored a minute after half-time to put them two goals to the good.

Lois Openda reduced the deficit with a close-range finish, but they could not find an equaliser as Roberto Martinez's men fell to a second consecutive defeat.

The defeat exposed¬ serious defensive deficiencies for Belgium ahead of their trip to Qatar, where they are hoping to better their run to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup.

Belgium hit the bar within 10 minutes when Michy Batshuayi rattled the woodwork, though replays later showed the former Chelsea man was clearly offside.

After Thibaut Courtois twice denied Trezeguet, Arthur Theate sent a long-range curler looping onto the top of the net.

Mohamed gave Egypt the lead, capitalising on De Bruyne's poor touch before side-footing beautifully into the bottom right corner from outside the box.

Mohamed El Shenawy then made a big stop to save Yannick Carrasco's fierce drive and preserve his side's lead heading into the interval.

Egypt doubled their lead moments after the break, Trezeguet latching onto Mohamed Salah's excellent throughball before rifling home as Belgium continued to look shaky at the back.

Martinez's men screamed for a penalty when half-time substitute Openda was felled by Ahmed Hegazy, but a VAR review decided not to award a spot-kick.

Belgium pressed to pull a goal back but they struggled to break though Egypt's resolute defence, with Youri Tielemans firing well over from range almost out of frustration.

They did find a goal back through Openda when he was picked out by a superb Carrasco cross, but they could not kick on and find an equaliser.

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Last modified on Friday, 18 November 2022 12:05
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