Tunisia Wednesday beat Egypt 1-0 after an injury-time own goal to reach the final of the FIFA Arab Cup. Playing under lights at the imposing Stadium 974, both teams failed to score until the injury-time free-kick late in the second half by Tunisia’s Naim Sliti. As the ball curled into the box, Egypt’s Amro Elsoulia mistakenly headed the ball into his own net. Thousands of delirious Tunisians celebrated the goal in jubilant fashion as downbeat Egyptian players saw the referee signal the end of the match just seconds later. After a fast-paced start, Tunisia attacked Egypt backline twice in the first few minutes but Carlos Queiroz’s defenders remained alert to allay the threatening moves. In the 5th minute, Hannibal Mejbri curled in a beautiful corner kick that was intercepted by a slick header from Montassar Talbi but the deflection from close range narrowly slipped past the Egypt crossbar. Seven minutes later, high-scoring Seifeddine Jaziri made inroads into the Egypt box but his move was ruled offside. In another attack from Tunisia, Talbi connected with his header on a Hannibal corner again but this time his deflection was well caught by Egypt keeper Mohamed Elshenawy. Just seconds later, Iranian referee Alireza Faghani flashed a yellow card to a backroom staff member of the Egypt bench for unsportsmanlike behavior as tempers started to flare up even on the touch line. Exactly at the half-hour mark, Tunisia’s Yassine Meriah got into a rough tangle with Egypt’s Marwan Hamdy resulting in an injury to the former. The injury caused a stoppage for a few minutes as Meriah received medical treatment on the pitch. In Egypt’s first serious attack on Tunisia goal came when Hegazy Hamdeh’s ferocious long-range shot – executed from outside the box - was smartly blocked by keeper Mouez Hassan in the 34th minute. In another move going waste, Tunisia’s Talbi failed to get adequate purchase on a header – off a corner kick – which missed the target from close range in the 37th minute. Seconds later, Tunisia’s Ghaylen Chaaleli went long-range with a bullet of a shot that was collected by Egypt keeper Elshenawy. A few moments later, Tunisian coach ringed in his first substitution as he benched Meriah and brought in Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane in the 40th minute. After the referee blew the whistle, both teams walked off the pitch without scoring but Tunisia’s 8 corners against just one by Egypt showed how the team in white dominated the proceedings in the first half. Soon after the resumption of play, Tunisian playmaker Msakni was shown the yellow card for a rough tackle on Akram Tawfik. Close to the hour-mark, Ben Romdhane was brought down inside the box and the referee awarded the penalty kick to Tunisia. However, a VAR referral saw the referee reverse his decision. In the 62nd minute, Egypt’s Mohamed Shrief unleashed a powerful shot that was collected by Tunisia keeper Hassen. There was tension in the middle of the pitch also. In the 68th minute, Egypt’s Hegazy brought down Msakni with a rough tackle near the half-line. The referee quickly flashed the yellow card to Hegazy who apologized to Msakni. In the 75th minute, Egypt’s Hamdy got close to shooting the ball into the net from close range but in an attempt to drill the ball with a powerful shot, he misfired and the ball sailed above the Tunisia crossbar. A few moments later, Hamdy again misfired with his header this time off an indirect free-kick as Egypt continued to mount attacks in the second half. Ten minutes from time, Hannibal was benched and Naim Sliti was brought in the Tunisian coach. Egypt’s Ahmed Sayed also curled in a long-range shot from outside the box but keeper Hassen averted the dangerous move. Just before the end of the second half, Tunisia’s Bilel Ifa and Egypt’s Amro Elsoulia both missed their respective shots from close range. And then came the heartbreak for Egypt. A freekick by Sliti was headed into the net by Egypt captain Elsoulia for an own goal in injury time (90+4)
