De Bruyne made a mistake in Belgium defeat
Ghi ban: Lois Openda 76' - Mostafa Mohamed 33', Trezeguet 46'
At Jaber Al-Ahmad International, Belgium controlled the ball 68%, but kicked a deadlock with only 8 shots, including two on target. On the opposite side, Egypt did well in taking advantage of the opportunity when scoring twice from 5 shots on target.
Belgium - currently second in the FIFA table, behind only Brazil - had the first chance with Michy Batshuayi's shot to hit the bar in the 10th minute, but Egypt were better in the first half. In the 11th and 21st minutes, respectively, Trezeguet had two finishes in the penalty area, but both could not defeat goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The difference was made in the 33rd minute, when De Bruyne caught the ball right in front of the penalty area. Mostafa Mohamed rushed into the robbery and then cut his heart to the far corner, out of Courtois's block. Less than a minute had passed in the second half, Mohamed Salah lifted the ball to Trezeguet's speed to penetrate the penalty area and then hit his left foot with one touch to the near corner, doubling the lead.
The rest of the time, Belgium dominated when Egypt retreated deep in defense. But the European representative only removed one goal thanks to Lois Openda's close-range cushion in the 76th minute.
Egypt - currently 39th in the FIFA rankings - beat a team in the top 10 on the FIFA rankings for the first time since defeating Italy in 2009. Egypt also marked its first victory over a European team since 2014 when they won a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0.
"This is not the result or the performance that Belgium was expecting, but maybe we need this defeat," coach Roberto Martinez said after the game. "Egypt of course deserved to win, but this result is unacceptable before the World Cup. This is a warning to the whole team and the mentality of the players must change."
According to the 49-year-old coach, the early injury of Michy Batshuayi and having to leave the field after the break partly affected the mentality of his teammates. "Suddenly the players thought they could suffer the same fate as Batshuayi and risk missing the World Cup in this friendly match," he said.
Martinez revealed Batshuayi had no serious problems and no other players were injured after the game. He also thinks that captain Eden Hazard needs time to regain his form and play the full 90 minutes, because he is often a substitute at Real Madrid.
The Belgian head coach ended the press conference by announcing that Leandro Trossard was in the best condition and will train with the whole team from today 19/11. Trossard has three assists and seven goals in Brighton's 14 Premier League games since the start of the season, including a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw with Liverpool, a goal in a 4-1 win over Chelsea and a goal in the loss. 1-3 at Man City Stadium.
