Brazil edge Egypt in Cleveland friendly as World Cup looms for both

[p]The five-time world champions arrived in Cleveland having built up a bit of steam with consecutive friendly wins over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/panama/OWKqbCfi/"]Panama[/a] under their belt, and took just seven minutes to break the deadlock here.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mohanad-lasheen/U7m2BFH2/"]Mohanad Lasheen[/a] was caught dawdling on the ball from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oufa-shobeir/0vgRIJk9/"]Mostafa Shobeir[/a]’s clearance, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bruno-guimaraes/xtyKanzU/"]Bruno Guimaraes[/a] clinically dispatched his strike into the bottom-right corner. [/b][/p][p]The Selecao would have expected to push on from there, [b]but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a] restored parity a mere four minutes later when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zico-mustafa-abdel-raouf/vwddP63o/"]Mostafa Ziko[/a] intercepted a blind backpass from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marquinhos/UFfev8HP/"]Marquinhos[/a] before calmly slotting the ball past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alisson/UZrQ3bwP/"]Alisson[/a], making it two goals in two appearances for his country.[/b][/p][p]Carlo Ancelotti had further cause for concern moments later when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wesley-franca/zmtPBqz4/"]Wesley Franca[/a] was forced off with a knock in a lively opening 20 minutes.[/p][image alt="Match Stats" id="691c3bf8-8be6-435d-adcb-eff43e0b2573" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="4707db88-36a3-4aeb-805b-1d8cfaac261a" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brazil/I9l9aqLq/"]Brazil[/a] were gradually starting to find their flow as the half wore on, though, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vinicius-junior/CbwQ4Mws/"]Vinicius Junior[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rodriguez-thiago/MmJb4MzQ/"]Igor Thiago[/a] both had efforts saved by Shobeir. Vinicius then had a penalty appeal turned down seconds before half-time after going down in the box with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hany-mohamed/nyIZP4tk/"]Mohamed Hany[/a] dangling a trailing leg.[/p][p]Ancelotti made eight changes ahead of the second half, and one of those introductions re-established Brazil’s lead seven minutes after the restart. [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raphinha/xtBsDPam/"]Raphinha[/a] made a jinking run down the left and teed up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/endrick/bXHrpEJ4/"]Endrick[/a], who applied a brilliant first-time finish past Shobeir.[/b][/p][embed guid="8ce32de6-c385-4105-b767-a1dc7d6c55b6" url="https://x.com/CBF_Futebol/status/2063407505967841744" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Mohamed Salah[/a] was one of four half-time changes for Egypt, and looked to take matters into his own hands with a speculative deflected long-range strike which flew over the bar.[/p][p]Ultimately, this was a job well done for the Selecao, gaining momentum at just the right time after an inauspicious qualification campaign.[/p][p]They will be full of confidence heading into their World Cup opener against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a], while this defeat ends a three-match unbeaten run for Egypt ahead of their first group game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a].[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bruno-guimaraes/xtyKanzU/"]Bruno Guimaraes[/a] (Brazil)[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/brazil-I9l9aqLq/egypt-bejDn7NN/?mid=r3s2pV84"]Click here for more on the match[/a][/b][/p]