Swedes slip up in Cairo

Egypt 1-0 Sweden

Bilal strikes
Ahmed Bilal's tenth-minute goal was enough to give the home side victory in front of 20,000 fans in Cairo. While the Swedes are contemplating their challenge in Portugal next summer, Egypt have a more immediate task with the CAF African Cup of Nations beginning in January.

Unusual pairing
Sweden started with an unusual forward pairing of Mattias Jonson and Stefan Selakovic, although neither was to offer much of a threat to the hosts. Bilal's goal came after a shot was deflected off a Swedish player into his path and he made no mistake to score.

Farnerud worry
The visitors' best opportunity came eight minutes before the interval, just after Pontus Farnerud had picked up a muscle injury. Anders Andersson rose to head goalwards only to be denied by the post. In the second half, Marcus Allbäck and Andreas Johansson replaced Jonson and Selakovic but an equaliser could not be found.

Debut success
There were several positives for Sweden, though, including a full debut for defender Alexander Östlund, and a 30-minute run-out for his Hammarby team-mate Max von Schlebrügge. The latter came on for captain Olof Mellberg, recently voted the nation's footballer of the year.