TotalEnergies CAF Futsal Africa Cup of Nations: Classy Egypt put four past Libya

The Pharaohs of Egypt beat Libya 4-0 in the opening fixture of Group B in the ongoing TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON in Rabat, Morocco.

The winners of the first three editions of the quadrennial competition showed their dominance against the Mediterranean Knights at the Salle Prince Moulay Abdellah on Friday evening.

Mohamed Abdelrazek Koki scored twice and a  goal each for Alaa Eissa and Mohamed Mohamed Careca handed Egypt the perfect start to the tournament.

The three-time champions started brightly at the Prince Moulay Abdellah with Essam Ramadan and Khaled Abdelhalim pulling the strings for Gehad Arafa’s side.

Ramadan who plys his trade in the Saudi championship with El Nasr warmed the hands of the Ziyad Azeez in the Libyan goal with a fierce toe-poked effort inside sixty seconds of the highly charged first half.

Khaled Abdelhalim hit the side netting of Ziyad Azeez’s goal with a first time smart effort as the Pharaohs dominated possession and the chances.

The Mediterranean Knights weathered the early Egyptian storm and came close to breaking the deadlock through Mohamed Said. 

The 29-year-old latched on to a through pass in the heart of the Egypt defence rounding the onrushing keeper before seeing his composed effort cleared off the line by Alaa Eissa.

Mohamed Mohamed was denied a goal by the Libyan keeper Ziyad with eight minutes on the clock. The confident Ziyad Azeez made himself big in front of Mohamed who fired straight at him.

The competition’s most successful side broke the deadlock midway through the first period courtesy of Mohamed Abdelrazek Koki’s close range effort. The Eleelameen ace made no mistake from just outside the area with a poachers toe-poke goal to give Gehad Arafa’s charges the lead.

Abdulhakim Rashid should have drawn Libya level after 15 minutes when a slick interchange of passes in the Pharaohs half set him free but he failed to hit the target.  

Koki doubled his tally on the stroke of half time with a cool finish to beat the helpless Azeez and tightened Egypt’s grip on the game.

The second half saw a more spirited Libyan side who tried to find a way back into the game but couldn’t beat Gamal Badawy in goal for Arafa’s team.

Mohamed Said Careca made it 3-0 on 29 minutes from Essam Ramadan’s assist. Ramadan won possession in the Libyan half before playing in Careca who stylishly side-footed his effort into the far corner.

Alaa Eissa completed the rout with an audacious chip from his half to beat Ziyad who was off his line.