Pagels’ side lost any hope of making the World Cup final qualifiers after being hammered at home by Egypt; a defeat that did not reveal the true course of the game according to the German coach.

“We created a lot of scoring chances and I think ball possession in the second half was 80 per cent in our favor but we lost the match on individual mistakes at the back,” said Pagels after the game in Harare.

“Egypt did not create as many chances as we did but they managed to score. Our problem is in defense where we created the major chances for Egypt.”

Egypt travel to Mozambique next week as Zimbabwe take on Guinea at home.