ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) 鈥� No matter what Mohamed Salah decides about his future with Egyptian soccer 鈥� more World Cups or not 鈥� the star striker can say he was the captain for the country’s first victory in the knockout round.
Hossam Abdelmaguid scored the deciding goal in a shootout, and Egypt won its debut in the elimination round of the by beating Australia 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the round of 32 Friday.
Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan didn’t stop any of Egypt’s four shots after replacing starter Patrick Beach late in extra time.
The victory comes in Egypt’s fourth World Cup, the first one with an expanded field of 48. Australia is now 0-3 in the knockout round.
Egypt will next face defending champion Argentina, which Friday night, in the round of 16 on Tuesday in Atlanta.
鈥淢e feeling today is that it’s incredible,鈥� said Salah, the 34-year-old former Liverpool player who is one behind national team coach Hossam Hassan’s Egyptian record of 69 international goals. 鈥淚 always like seeing the boys happy and enjoying the moment. Nothing can match that. So today was one of the best days of my life.鈥�
Harry Souttar opened the shootout by missing high for Australia, and 18-year-old Lucas Herrington hit the crossbar with the fourth attempt to set up Abdelmaguid鈥檚 clincher for the Pharaohs.
The 25-year-old Abdelmaguid, who doesn’t have an international goal in 15 appearances, went low left as Ryan dived to the defender’s right, setting off a raucous celebration among 70,244 fans at the sold-out home of the Dallas Cowboys, plenty of them wearing Egyptian red.
Egypt didn’t even have a victory in the World Cup before beating New Zealand 3-1 in the group stage less than two weeks ago.
鈥淚 was only thinking about the Egyptian fans,鈥� Hassan said through an interpreter. 鈥淒uring the entire time and during the penalty shootout, I was just praying, 鈥楪od, please make the Egyptian people happy.鈥� Even before the penalty shootout, to be honest.鈥�
Egypt鈥檚 other shootout scorers were Mahmoud Saber, Ramy Rabia and Salah, who played every minute of regulation and extra time despite a hamstring injury sustained in the team’s group finale.
Jackson Irvine and Awer Mabil scored in the shootout for Australia.
鈥淲hen I went to the players and talked to them, I wanted to take some pressure off,鈥� Hassan said. 鈥淒o not look at the pressure. Just let everything out, don鈥檛 think about anything. Think about your penalty kick. Don鈥檛 even think about the goalkeeper. Just think about your kick.鈥�
Emam Ashour gave Egypt the lead in regulation by scoring in the 13th minute with a header that beat Beach just inside the near post. Australia evened the match in the 55th when Egypt defender Mohamed Hany became the first player to score two own-goals in the same World Cup.
The own-goal came when Aiden O鈥橬eill took a free kick from left of the penalty area and Hany headed the ball past goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir for a spot in World Cup infamy. His other own-goal came in a 1-1 draw with Belgium in the group stage.
Less than 10 minutes earlier, Hany was down near the same spot after colliding with Connor Metcalfe on the Australia midfielder鈥檚 header attempt. Medical personnel tended to Hany with a stretcher waiting nearby, but he was helped up and stayed on after what appeared to be a concussion check.
Australia鈥檚 only scoring in World Cup knockout rounds has been two own-goals. The Socceroos lost to Italy 1-0 in 2006 and lost to Argentina 2-1 four years ago in Qatar. The goal against Argentina was an own-goal.
鈥淚t hurts when you get that close,鈥� Australia coach Tony Popovic said. 鈥淯nfortunately, we bow out in a penalty shootout, so it鈥檚 difficult to take right now.鈥�
Omar Marmoush had a great chance to give Egypt a two-goal lead in the opening seconds of the second half, but he sent a shot wide.
The late goalkeeper switch to the 34-year-old Ryan, for his 105th international appearance, came despite several strong saves from the 22-year-old Beach, who was playing in only his sixth game for the Socceroos.
Beach made a sprawling save on a header from Rabia in the waning moments of regulation, and seconds later had a much easier stop on Salah鈥檚 shot.
Egypt had one more chance before the end of regulation, but Haissem Hassan was turned away by Souttar, who deflected the shot with his knee.
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