Mohamed Salah inspired Egypt to their first-ever World Cup win as they came from a goal down to beat New Zealand 3-1 with a brilliant second-half display, moving top of Group G and boosting their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.<\/p>\n
After a relatively quiet first half that saw \u200bthem go in behind at the break, Egypt and Salah turned up the heat in the second period as the 34-year-old winger showed he is still capable of conjuring magic from his boots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great achievement for all the players,\u201d Salah said as he took the plaudits among his teammates. \u201cIt\u2019s a great win. It\u2019s a great vibe. The next game is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Egypt, who drew 1-1 with Belgium<\/a> in \u200btheir opener, moved top of the group with \u200cfour points from two matches. \u200cThe All Whites, held 2-2 by Iran in their opener, are bottom with one point. Belgium were held \u200c0-0 by Iran<\/a> earlier on Sunday.<\/p>\n New Zealand\u2019s first-half gameplan was as simple as it was effective, kicking long when they needed to and keeping possession when they could, and the defender Finn Surman broke the deadlock from a corner, losing his marker, Ahmed Fatouh, before steering a powerful header into the net.<\/p>\n \u201cAt half-time I told the players we were not going back out on to the pitch unless we were determined to win, and to draw confidence from the pride we feel from that support,\u201d Egypt\u2019s coach Hossam Hassan said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo the Egyptian football community, we needed time to \u200cbuild confidence, to capitalise on our strengths and reflect on our journey to qualification, as well as the hard work of previous generations \u200bwho tried to create these opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n The stern half-time message appeared to work. Though Callum McCowatt had a glancing header tipped over the bar early on for New Zealand, Egypt \u200cpiled on the pressure after the break and they levelled through Mostafa Ziko, who headed home Mohamed Hany\u2019s cross from the right in the 58th minute.<\/p>\n Salah then finally \u200bgave the crowd what they wanted nine minutes later, breaking forward down the right and playing a one-two with Ziko before slotting the ball into the far corner.<\/p>\n Salah almost scored his second in the 81st minute, cutting in from the right and firing a deflected shot over, but he managed an assist from the resulting corner as the substitute Mahmoud \u201cTrezeguet\u201d Hassan dived to head home at the near post.<\/p>\n