Johannesburg - After their historic 1-0 victory over Italy, Egypt's players and staff basked in the light of the world's media as their supporters at the other end of the continent celebrated long into the night.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called the team to congratulate them on the first win by an African team over the four-time World Cup winners.

And though the Pharaohs still sit third in the group, behind Italy on goal difference, the team was naturally proud with the performance and the result.

Assistant coach Shawky Gharib claimed boldly that Egypt "were a better side" than Italy over 90 minutes before adding that "it's undoubtedly a great day in the history of Egyptian football."

Goalkeeper hero Essam El Hadary also said the side "deserved to win" and were motivated going up against the Italians by their disappointment at having controversially lost their Group B opener to Brazil 4-3 on a last-minute penalty kick.

While replays showed that it was a correct decision by the referee, Egypt filed a formal protest with world governing body of football FIFA because they believed that the fourth official had changed the decision after watching a replay of the event on a pitch-side television monitor.

"We were determined to win this game after losing to Brazil," said man of the match Mohamed Homos, who scored the game's only goal in the 40th minute. "Italy are a great side but we were ready to give them a fight. Our performance was just fantastic."

Now the two-time defending African Nations Cup winners, who ironically have been struggling in World Cup qualifying, turn their attention to the final group contest against the United States on Sunday in Rustenburg.

Even on three points with Italy, who face Brazil the same day, Egypt are one behind on goal difference.

"Now we are already concentrating on the next match," said El Hadary Thursday evening. "If we win, we can qualify for the semi-final."

Gharib confirmed that the Egyptians are looking ahead quickly, saying: "Now we have a good chance of qualifying, just like Brazil and Italy. We start work on the next match. We came here to win and to get experience."

Forward Mohamed Zidan, who went off with a hamstring injury in the 57th minute and may be an injury worry for coach Hassan Shehata, said the South African crowd played their part in the historic day for the continent.

"There are a great number of Egyptian fans here, but the way the South African crowd got behind us was excellent and it motivated us a lot towards the end," admitted the player, who scored twice against Brazil. "It was almost like playing at home in Egypt."

But one non-football distraction emerged on Friday when Zidan revealed that the hotel rooms of several of the players were broken into and money was stolen during the big win. (dpa)