Belgium's forward Eden Hazard (left) scores a goal during the international friendly football match against Egypt at the King Baudouin Stadium, in Brussels, on Wednesday.
Cape Town - Nigeria turned in a disappointing performance in their final tune-up, losing 1-0 to the Czech Republic
Published: Thu 7 Jun 2018, 9:42 PM
Last updated: Thu 7 Jun 2018, 11:57 PM
Egypt and Nigeria continued their recent poor form in World Cup warm-up games on Wednesday ahead of their bids to become the first African side to reach the semifinals of the global showpiece event.
Belgium eased past Egypt 3-0 in Brussels to extend the north African side's winless streak since qualifying for the tournament in Russia starting next week.
Eden Hazard provided the sparkle as Belgium dominated. The Chelsea forward set up Romelu Lukalu for the first goal and netted the second himself before halftime.
Marouane Fellaini added a third in stoppage-time to complete a strong performance by the hosts, who underlined their status as one of the favourites in Russia.
Egypt were missing injured forward Mohamed Salah but their coach Hector Cuper said his talisman might be fit for the opening Group A game against Uruguay on June 15.
Nigeria turned in a disappointing performance in their final tune-up, losing 1-0 to the Czech Republic who failed to qualify for the World Cup. Tomas Kalas gave the Czechs a deserved lead in the 25th minute in Schwechat, near the Austrian capital of Vienna, after he fired home a rebound following a corner to beat sprawling Nigerian goalkeeper Francis Uzoho.
Nigeria, who have lost three of their last four games and drawn the other, kick off their World Cup campaign against Croatia on June 16, but they looked disinterested during the opening half as the Czechs dominated.
The Nigerians stepped up the pace in the second half - briefly interrupted by a rain delay - and created a few chances but could not find the net against a Czech side who conceded four goals against Australia last week.
Also playing on Wednesday were Panama, whose preparations ended on a low note as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat by Norway after an early goal by Joshua King.
Worryingly for the Panamanians, who face Belgium, England and Tunisia in Group G in their first World Cup finals appearance, they struggled to deal with Norway's physical power, but they did create decent chances in the second half.
Meanwhile, South Korea was held by Bolivia to a goalless draw in a World Cup warmup on Thursday. South Korea dominated possession but missed forward Son Heung-min, who was rested for the first hour.
Central defender Jang Hyun-soo, who missed the two previous games because of an ankle injury, was back as coach Shin Tae-yong returned to a 4-4-2 formation after experimenting recently.
South Korea will play another friendly against Senegal on Monday before traveling to Russia.
It has Sweden, Mexico and Germany in Group F. It was the fifth straight winless match for Bolivia, which failed to qualify for the World Cup. - Reuters
iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
