By Amr Shaheen BBC Sport Online

Libya surprisingly ended Egypt's winning streak by taking a 1-0 victory in a friendly in Alexandria.

The game was the last match for both teams before launching their African Nations' Cup qualifying campaign.

Egypt will soon fly to meet Madagascar while Libya host DR Congo.

Despite being termed a friendly, the match was played in an official and tense atmosphere.

Huge numbers of Libyan fans, who were spending their summer vacation in the Mediterranean city, attended the game, supporting their team enthusiastically.

The Libyans looked much better than the Eastern African sides from Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan who were all defeated by the Pharaohs earlier this month in the same stadium.

"This was the toughest match we had this month," Egypt coach Mohsen Saleh said after the game.

"Libya are organized and well prepared. It was a very useful experience for us," he added.

Before they arrived to Egypt, the Libyans had a two-week long training camp in Germany.

They included professional players based in Italy's second division in their line-up.

The Egyptians were the better side throughout the game but were futile in front of the goal.

But Libya's counter attack was always dangerous and through one, Ahmed El Mossily's shot found the back of the net of Egyptian goalkeeper El Hadary in the 73rd minute.

The game had its share of suspense too, as Libya's Italian coach Scoglio was sent off in the 47th minute for arguing with the referee, with his player Nader El Tarhony following him 30 minutes later.

Egypt's line-up looked like a second choice team, missing the European based players, plus those from Zamalek, Mehalla and Masry, who are all getting ready to participate in Caf Inter Clubs competitions over this weekend.

However, Saleh confirmed he would make major changes for the Madagascar game.

"I will summon Mido who plays for Ajax and the team Captain Hany Ramzy who plays for Kaiserslautern," he said.