imanixsupporter wrote:
Having only now watched the replay, maybe we should have made subs earlier, but the first goal happens because our defense let a man get a free header in the box, and once the header is made, our goalkeeper straight up fumbles it. It was right to him, and you can tell from his body language that he knows he should have saved it. Then, the second goal happens because our players (Cacace and Bell in particular) lose their heads and forget to play to the whistle because they feel like they got hard done by by the ref.
Those two moments might easily have not happened. Crocombe might have made that save, Cacace might have remained professional after a bad call from the ref and not let Salah so easily waltz through down his side, and we weather a bit of an Egypt storm, which to my eye was not unsurvivable, and come out the other side 1-0 up and hold on for the win. I don't myself see the big regret as our coach not making earlier subs or not making a genius on the fly tactical adjustment to deal with the opppents', I just see two particularly bad errors our players made.
The third goal was of course pathetic too but that one didnt matter.
Not sure what was visible on the box but we were getting done by the ref and liners all over the park.
That first sub for Egypt was gamesmanship. He wasn't good enough so they played the injury card to get him off.
That first sub for Egypt was gamesmanship. He wasn't good enough so they played the injury card to get him off.