Egypt 1-0 Zimbabwe: 3 reasons why Egypt won | Africa Cup of Nations 2019

#2 Wasteful forwards

Zimbabwe's Khama Billiat (l)

The game was quite an exciting one, and with 27 shots in total, that's hard to argue. However, the wasteful nature of the attackers on both sides was quite glaring, as we saw chance after chance thrown away with reckless abandon on both ends of the pitch.

While an energetic performance by the Zimbabwean keeper, Edmore Sibanda, was crucial in thwarting the Egyptians on numerous occasions, the Warriors also had their fair share of opportunities to get their name on the score sheet.

The most obvious one was Khama Billiat's miss in the first half, just a few minutes to Mahmoud Hassan's crucial decider. In the 36th minute, Billiat found himself in no man's land with just the keeper to beat, but milliseconds of indecision was all it took for the Egyptian keeper to thwart the winger.

If that goal had gone in, it would definitely have been a different ball game altogether.