Original title: Cairo national team progressed to Club World Cup opener
Xinhua News Agency, Rabat, February 1. In the opening match of the Morocco 2022 World Cup on February 1, Egypt’s Cairo Nationals defeated New Zealand team Auckland City 3-0 to advance to the second round.
Chinese referee Ma Ning is the main referee, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng are the assistant referees, and Fu Ming is the assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) to enforce the match. This is the first time a team of referees from China has officiated at this flagship FIFA event, creating history.
The Cairo Nationals dominated the game, and Shahat scored in stoppage time in the first half to help the team break the deadlock. In the second half, Sharif and Tau scored a goal in the 56th and 86th minutes respectively, and the Cairo Nationals won 3:0.
During stoppage time in the second half, Mitchell from Oakland City made a serious foul at the front of the penalty area and destroyed the opponent’s obvious scoring opportunity. Referee Ma Ning sent him a red card after watching the VAR replay.
This year’s FIFA Club World Cup experimented with new rules, requiring the referee to announce the reason for the penalty to the audience via microphone after watching the VAR replay, in order to increase the transparency of the law enforcement referee Ma Ning’s penalty is also the first application of this new rule in a FIFA game.
The Cairo Nationals will face the Seattle Sounders of the United States on February 5.
