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Imperious France stride on

France 5-0 Egypt Thierry Henry on target twice as Marcel Desailly makes an appearance record.

France 5-0 Egypt
European champions France continued their post-FIFA World Cup recovery with an impressive 5-0 victory against Egypt at the Stade de France in Paris in tonight's friendly international.

Egypt pressure
Chelsea FC defender Marcel Desailly, making a record 104th appearance for his country, was heavily involved in the first 20 minutes as Egypt pressed forward in the opening stages of the first international between the two countries.

Henry header
However, France held firm, and took the lead after 25 minutes, as Willy Sagnol's right-wing cross was missed by Egypt defender Hossam Ghali and met by Thierry Henry. The Arsenal FC striker's header was spectacularly saved one-handed by goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari, but the rebound fell kindly for Henry, who headed into the net.

Composed finish
Djibril Cissé and Sylvain Wiltord both had chances to double the home side's lead before, after 34 minutes, it was 2-0. An excellent passing move involving Sagnol, Cissé and Robert Pires gave Henry a shooting chance, and the striker calmly placed the ball into the corner.

Well-worked third
Undeterred, Egypt went close, and striker Ahmed Hossam 'Mido' was twice denied by Fabien Barthez, before the home team increased their lead on the stroke of half-time. Cissé's low cross was flicked on by Pires to Wiltord, whose shot hit the post, but the ball rebounded to Cissé, who squared for Pires to score.
 
Second-half strikes
Egypt came close to scoring again, as defensive mistakes from Desailly and Barthez gave Abdel Al Sayyed a chance, but Barthez recovered well to clear. Cissé made it 4-0 two minutes past the hour, scoring his second international goal with a low right-footed shot into the corner, and substitute Olivier Kapo rounded off the win ten minutes from time, prodding a long ball past Al Hadari to register his first goal for his country.
 
Fantastic form
The victory continued France's excellent form since suffering an unexpectedly early exit at the World Cup last summer. Jacques Santini's side are currently top of UEFA EURO 2004™ Group 1 with maximum points from their five games so far. Having scored 19 goals in the process, France will be in confident mood for their next match, at home to Cyprus at the Stade de France on 6 September.