Drawn into one group with the later finalists Côte d'Ivoire and Egypt, plus Morocco, nobody expected much from the Libyans.
And in the first match the level seemed already too high for the North Africans, when they were easily outplayed by hosts Egypt (0:3).
But the picture changed: The punctually brilliant playmaker Tarek El Taib returned from injury and confidence grew. Libya became a resilient opponent for both Côte d'Ivoire (1:2) and Morocco (0:0).
It showed that Libya have a compact first eleven, but do not have the depth in the squad to replace injuries or suspensions (three players in the first, the goalkeeper in the second match).