Three members of Australia’s World Cup squad have been handed the opportunity to avenge the pain inflicted by Egypt in tournaments gone by.
The two sides have only ever met in friendlies on the international stage, most recently in a 3-0 loss in 2010.
But Australia were on the receiving end of a heartbreaking 2-0 loss that ended their football campaign at the Tokyo Olympics.
Three stars, Connor Metcalfe, Harry Souttar and Cameron Devlin, were all part of that Olyroos side.
And now they have the chance to reverse that result when they travel to Arlington, Texas on Saturday, 4am AEST.
And it’s an opportunity that Metcalfe fully intends to take.
Connor Metcalfe has said he is out for personal revenge after Egypt ended his World Cup dream at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Cameron Devlin completes the trio of Olyroos who were knocked out when Egypt beat Australia 2-0
‘I remember that,’ Metcalfe said on Sunday.
‘It actually feels like a blur, to be honest.
‘They were quite a big, physical team. I just remember it being really humid and hot and we didn’t play our best game.
‘They ruined our dream. So, yeah, I guess you could say it’s a bit of a revenge, personally.’
There will be one major difference for Metcalfe when they take on Egypt in the round of 32, and that is the presence of their talisman Mohamed Salah.
The two-time Premier League winner was controversially dropped from their side at the 2020 Olympics.
He has played a starring role for his side so far this World Cup and while his threat needs no real studying, Metcalfe and company watched Egypt’s draw with Iran.
‘We’re excited, I mean, the game against Iran was pretty hectic at the end,’ Metcalfe said.
‘But we know the quality they’ve got, and we got to watch them play a bit, so we understand how they play in their mentality and their willingness on and off the ball.’
The threat that Egypt carries, along with their approach to the game, is vastly different from what the Socceroos had experienced against a pretty listless Paraguay side.
Metcalfe who scored one of Australia’s two goals at the tournament so far said his side thrive on being the underdogs
But that is something Metcalfe believes could play into his side’s hands. ‘It could suit us, the way we set up. I think we’re pretty good off the counter, so I think that could shock them a little bit,’ Metcalfe said.
‘But we haven’t gone into that much detail.’
Tony Popovic’s side caused quite the stir when they upset Turkiye in their opening World Cup game thanks to a 2-0 win. That result set the stage for the qualification to the knockout rounds.
And here, they are expected to be somewhat of the underdog again, but they have already embraced that feeling and attacked it with a positive mindset.
‘We thrive as being the underdogs, I feel like we always have, but I mean whatever the odds are – it doesn’t bother us,’ Metcalfe said.
‘But if we have to, I think against Paraguay, we showed that we can dominate a game with the ball.
‘It was probably our best performance with the ball, and we were calm, and looking forward, I think we’ll be aiming to do the same thing.’
