Egypt vs New Zealand
Egypt are the fifth country to be selected as one of the hosts of a couple of International Friendly games organized by FIFA, where teams from different confederations can play each other.
The Pharaohs are set to host the “Egypt Capital Cup,” where Egypt, New Zealand, Croatia, and Tunisia are set to square off. The Cairo International Stadium, which opened for business in January, will host the exhibition matches.
First up is the contest between hosts Egypt and New Zealand, where both teams are in dire need of a victory this Friday. The hosts struggled for results during the AFCON back in January, while New Zealand plan to end their winless run before they kick off the OFC Nations Cup in June.
Which team will come out on top this weekend? Learn more about these teams today here in our SBOTOP match preview.
Talking points
No Salah for Egypt
Because they’re firmly in the Premier League title mix, Liverpool are pulling out all the stops to make sure that all hands are on deck, meaning that they can ill-afford to have injuries to their key players.
Because Mohamed Salah is arguably their most valuable player, with 21 goals and 12 assists so far this season, the Reds made a request for him not to be included in the national team for this international break. However, the Egyptian Football Association believes that Liverpool are not acting in good faith since they couldn’t reach Salah and his camp.
Liverpool are being cautious with Salah because of the injuries he sustained earlier this season. However, he has looked well in his last two games because he has scored one goal apiece against Sparta Prague in the second leg of their Europa League Round of 16 and against Manchester United in their FA Cup quarter-finals tie.
With Salah presumably unavailable for the Pharaohs this week, they will rely on Mostafa Mohamed and Omar Marmoush to score the goals.
Mohamed has been the brightest spot for Egypt during the AFCON, as he led them with four goals. Meanwhile, Omar Marmoush is currently the top scorer for Eintracht Frankfurt this season with 14 goals and six assists.
Wood is available for New Zealand
Chris Wood is likely to play for New Zealand despite picking up a minor injury against Luton Town last time out. In the said game, the Nottingham Forest striker scored his first goal in quite some time, which was also his 150th in professional English football.
Wood leads Nottingham Forest in scoring this season with 10 goals, and they will need him to score more for them, especially after they received a points deduction by the Premier League.
Matthew Garbett is another player capable of creating International Friendly 2024 highlights, especially after he scored against Ireland last time out. The 21-year-old midfielder currently plays for NAC Breda in the Eerste Divisie.
History
Egypt and New Zealand will convene for the first time in 25 years in a competitive setting, and the former is favoured by the International Friendly 2024 odds.
Prior to Friday, these two teams met in two exhibition games in just a span of five days. After a 1-1 draw on July 10, 1999, the Pharaohs came away with a 1-0 shutout victory over the All Whites five days later.
New Zealand’s last encounter against African opposition was a 1-1 draw against DR Congo in an International Friendly that took place in October last year at the Estadio Nueva Condomina in Spain.
The All Whites have gone winless in their next three games since then, as they’ve conceded five goals against Australia, Greece, and Ireland while scoring only once on the other end.
Meanwhile, Egypt are coming off a disappointing run in the AFCON, as they were eliminated early by DR Congo in the Round of 16 via penalties despite being one of the heavy favourites. Similar to New Zealand, Egypt are winless in their last four matches (D3, L1).
Both teams are also looking to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Egypt are already a few steps ahead of New Zealand in that regard since they are the top team in Group A in the CAF region with two wins.
The Pharaohs’ last World Cup appearance was in 2018, where they finished as one of the worst teams in the quadrennial tournament.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s World Cup qualifying journey will start in September. The All Whites, whose last World Cup appearance was in 2010, are one of the favourites to come out of the OFC region.
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