An impressive first-half performance, capped by an excellent Dhaouadi Zouhaier goal, gave Tunisia a narrow 1-0 victory against Egypt at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The Evian midfielder made the most of some sloppy defending to open the scoring in the 19th minute and send the outnumbered Tunisian support wild.
It proved to be decisive as despite a much-improved second-half showing Egypt were unable to find a way past Farouk Ben Mustapha in the opposition goal.
The Pharaohs may have started the game five places above Tunisia in the FIFA world rankings but it was their North African rivals who made the running in the opening exchanges.
Essam Al-Hadari was called into action as early as the sixth minute, as Zouhaier forced him into a good save, before Chadi Hammami found space in the box moments later but couldn’t find a way past the Pharaohs keeper.
For their part Egypt were creating chances of their own, on-loan Hull City full-back Ahmed Elmohamady wasting the best of them as he blazed over following a smart backheel from Al Wasl star Shikabala.
Tunisia remained in control though and took the lead in the 19th minute thanks to an exquisite finish from Zouhaier. The midfielder sprang the offside trap to latch onto Ayman Bel Aid’s ball over the top and after evading a desperate lunge from Ahmed Hegazi, showed great composure to dink over Al-Hadari.
Egypt were struggling to find any fluency going forward but did test Farouk Ben Mustapha before the half was out through Mohamed Saleh’s effort from the edge of the box.
An equaliser would have been tough on Tunisia who could have made it two with a couple of minutes of the first period remaining but Zouhaier could only blast over having been sent through by Oueslati Abdelkader.
Egypt coach Bob Bradley altered his formation at half-time, bringing on former Wigan forward Amr Zaki, switching Mohamed Salah to the right wing, Shikabala to the left and giving Aboutrika a more central role.
The change precipitated the Pharaohs’ best spell in the match and they went within a whisker of equalising in the 52nd minute but Aboutrika could only head wide after arriving late to meet an Elmohamdy cross.
The veteran midfielder then sculpted Egypt’s best chance of the match four minutes later. Mohamed Salah timed his run perfectly to meet the Al-Ahly man’s through ball but with Ben Mustapha rushing from his goal, his first-time finish rolled agonisingly wide of the far post.
Wholesale substitutions took their toll on the game as a spectacle but it was Egypt continued almost had an equaliser when Zaki’s cross-shot was deflected by Aymen Abedennour onto the post.
Substitute Harbaoui Hamdi should have doubled his side’s lead with 10 minutes left, before Zaki went close again for Egypt.
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