كتب : Karim Farouk
Captain Ahmed Hassan opened the score in the 10th minute of the game and Yohan scored the equalizer in the 69th minute to maintain Egypt's three-year winless streak since their 3-0 away victory against Sudan in June 30th 2004.
Despite the draw, Egypt maintained their place on top of Group C with eight points, two ahead of second-placed Burundi with two matches remaining
Manager Hassan shehata opted for a 4-1-2-2-1 formation to give him the upper hand in midfield. And it was only 10 minutes before Hassan opened the score with a low drive to give the Pharaohs an early advantage.
Two minutes later, Mohamed Abou Treika could have doubled the score as he tried a half volley connecting with Sayed Moawad's cross but it went wide. And just before the half-hour mark his free kick was denied by the post.
But Egypt's best chance was lost by Amr Zaki who was unmarked in the box but failed to put the ball in the back of the net.
The home side got back in the game and threatened Essam Al-Hadari's goal who had to make a heroic save on a one-on-one with a Mauritanian forward to keep his clean sheet.
We had to wait for over a 40-minute-break as the commissioner was protesting against the presence of a massive crowd just around the pitch.
The home side was getting more and more confidence this is while the African Champions were lacking in style and enthusiasm.
Al-Hadari had to make a lot of stretches to save his nets but he could only hold on until the 69th minute when Yohan received an excellent chip pass that went all over the backline leaving him all alone in front of goal to level the score.
Just two minutes later, Mauritania had a chance of robbing the full points of the game when Yohan got past the defense but the Egyptian goalie was well placed to cover his shaky backline.
The Pharaohs had no response to all that despite having some fresh legs into the pitch like Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq 'Shikabala' and Omar Gamal who replaced injured Hossam Ghaly and Ahmed Fathi.
It could only became worse as Mohamed Shawki was sent off after receiving a second yellow card 7 minutes from time. But it didn't affect the result as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.