Egypt Under-17s beat Saudi Arabia 5-0 as captain Ahmed Safwat highlights clean sheet

Egypt Under-17 captain Ahmed Safwat said their ability to keep Saudi Arabia from scoring was central to their 5-0 victory in the opening round of the Gulf Under-17 Cup group stage.

The teams were level at 0-0 at half-time, but Egypt scored five times after the break to begin their campaign with a convincing win over Saudi Arabia.

“We secured an important victory against a Saudi Arabia team with great stature and history,” Safwat told Al Kass channels.

“The coaching staff’s instructions were clear: keep a clean sheet and do not concede, because we are capable of scoring at any time.”

Egypt followed those instructions and eventually found the breakthrough nine minutes into the second half. Mohamed Gamal put them ahead in the 54th minute before Ziad Saudi doubled their advantage in the 80th minute.

Safwat then added Egypt’s third goal in the 85th minute. Khaled Mahmoud scored their fourth in the sixth minute of added time, and Ahmed Bashir completed the scoring with Egypt’s fifth in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

“We carried out the instructions and, in fact, scored five goals in the second half, despite the first half ending goalless,” Safwat added.

The Gulf Under-17 Cup is being hosted by Qatar from 17 October to 5 November. Egypt are in Group B alongside Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and Kuwait.

Egypt’s World Cup preparations

Egypt’s participation in the tournament forms part of their final preparations for next month’s Under-17 World Cup, which will also be held in Qatar.

They have been drawn in Group A of the World Cup with Qatar, Panama and Greece.

Egypt qualified for the tournament after finishing third at the Africa Cup of Nations held in Morocco.