Saudis end 26-year long wait for win
Volgograd – Essam El Hadary, the oldest player ever to appear at a World Cup, marked his record achievement with one outstanding penalty save for Egypt but was powerless to stop a second in a 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia yesterday.
The 45-year-old goalkeeper flew to his right to make a spectacular stop in the 39th minute from Fahad AlMuwallad’s spot-kick.
But Saudi Arabia scored deep into stoppage time in both halves, with Salem AlDawsari’s last-gasp winner securing their first World Cup victory since a run to the last 16 in 1994.
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt still have not recorded a World Cup finals win in three appearances, despite the Liverpool talisman’s superb opening goal.
El Hadary was 45 years and 161 days old when he took to the field as the two alreadyeliminated teams in Group A played only for pride.
He smashed the age record set by Colombia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, who was aged 43 years and three days when he played against Japan in Brazil in 2014.
Salah was named in the starting line-up as expected and thrilled an Egyptian-dominated crowd of 36,823 by opening the scoring in trademark fashion after 22 minutes.
The 26-year-old controlled a long ball over the top with one touch of his left boot at pace before lobbing a deft finish over Yasser Al-Mosailem.
Uruguay burnished their World Cup credentials with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Russia, finishing top of Group A with a perfect record while dampening the hopes of the tournament hosts, who had to settle for second..