Aston Villa: A pair of players suffer critical international defeats
By Josh Tonti
The nations of Mile Jedinak and Ahmed Elmohamady suffered critical defeats in 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying.
Ahmed Elmohamady was an unused substitute for Egypt as Uganda pulled off a shock 1-0 upset at home. The win puts Uganda firmly entrenched in first place of CAF’s Group E.
Half-way to Russia, this is what the table looks like:
1. Uganda – 7 points, 3GP, +2GD
2. Egypt – 6 points, 3GP, +2GD
3. Ghana – 1 point, 2GP, -2GD
4. Congo – 1 point, 2GP, -2GD
The top nation in each of Africa’s five groups moves onto the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals next summer. Led by a trio of Premier League standouts: Mo Salah, Ahmed Hegazi, and Mohamed Elneny, Egypt failed to produce anything offensively.
Despite having 77 caps to his name, and being in good form, Elmohamady did not feature from the bench.
Egypt goes again September 5th in a return-leg against Uganda once more. This time, on home soil in Alexandria.
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Not to be outdone by near-catastrophic disaster, Mile Jedinak’s Socceroos lost to Japan by a score of 2-0. With that result, Japan becomes the 4th nation to qualify for the tournament, joining Brazil, Iran, and Russia.
Arsenal loanee Takuma Asano, 22, scored the opener before a late consolation goal. Luckily for Australia, United Arab Emirates pulled off the upset on Saudi Arabia. As such, both Australia (+4 GD) and Saudi Arabia (+6 GD) remain dead-locked in second place on 16 points a piece.
The final round of fixtures sees Thailand travel to Sydney, Australia. Whereas Saudi Arabia host Japan (who don’t have anything to play for aside from prepping next summer) in Jeddah.
A convincing win by the Socceroos, or S.A. dropping points means Mile Jedinak could get the chance to captain his nation next summer. The third-place finishers would have a chance too, but their road is more murky. They require a home-and-home against the other 3rd-place AFC finisher – and then inter-continental playoffs.