Taifa Stars outfoxed, overrun by hosts

By Gilbert Wandera

Taifa Stars coach Jan Poulsen admitted his side was out-played after they lost 5-1 to hosts Egypt in the third match of the Nile Basin tournament at the Arab Contractors Stadium on Wednesday night.

Speaking during the post-match press conference, the Dane said there was no comparison between the two sides and Egypt rightly deserved to win the match.

"Today, they showed why they are the best team in Africa. We made early mistakes by conceding two goals in the first 20 minutes. It was not easy to recover after that," he said.

But Poulsen praised his boys for putting up a brave fight-back in the second half. He said Taifa Stars must be exposed to such opposition more often if they hope to improve their form in future.

"If you want to become good, you must play with the best and these are the kind of matches we need to improve our performance," he added.

Egypt’s Saidi Hamidi scored twice, first with a powerful header in the fourth minute that left veteran goalkeeper Juma Kaseja rooted on the spot and then in the 57th minute.

The crowd’s favourite Mohammed Aboutrika put his name on the score sheet in the 14th minute with a powerful ground shot which hit the post before crawling into the Tanzanian net.

The Pharaohs added pressure, forcing Nadir Haroub to score an own goal in a desperate attempt to clear the ball in the 24th minute as the hosts led 3-0 at break.

Ahmed Ali completed the Egyptian rout with a powerful header in the 74th minute. Rashid Gumbo pulled one back for the losers in the 77th minute but it was too late to salvage anything from the match.