Record seven-time champions Egypt storm into final after beating hosts Cameroun 3-1 in post-match penalties

* Date Senegal in Sunday’s final — fight of two Liverpool stars, Sadio Mane for Senegal and Mo Sallah for Egypt

Maravi Express

Hosts Cameroon had two penalty shots saved by Egypt’s goalkeeper and one sent wide in their post-semifinal match penalties on Thursday while the Pharaohs converted all their three to win 3-1 and storm into the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Sunday.

The record champions Egypt will now face the Teranga Lions of Senegal, who produced a brilliant second half performance to beat Burkina Faso 3-1 on Wednesday to qualify into Sunday’s AFCON  Cameroon 2021 final.

Goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal was the hero for the Egyptians, saving from both Harold Moukoudi and James Lea-Siliki in the shoot-out at the Olembe Stadium before Clinton Njie blazed wide with Cameroon’s last chance to keep their dream alive.

Mo Salah, usually the fifth penalty-taker for his country, was not needed as Egypt advance to a final showdown against Senegal that will see Salah come up against his Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane, with the Pharaohs chasing a record-extending eighth African crown while Senegal continue their search for their first title.

Cameroon, meanwhile, see their hopes of AFCON glory on home soil ended in cruel fashion, and they must still get through a third-place play-off against Burkina Faso this Sunday.

Cameroon captain Vincent Abubakar pass up a glorious chance to open the scoring early in the second half when a dreadfully short back-pass by Martin Hongla sent him clear.

After trying to knock the ball round Andre Onana, the Cameroon goalkeeper successfully stopped him just outside the box.

Aboubakar also struggled to make an impact, although the hosts had dominated the first half and almost went ahead in the 18th minute when Michael Ngadeu rose to head a corner off the woodwork.

Samuel Oum Gouet also saw a long-range piledriver clip the left upright in the second half.

Meanwhile the Egyptians went down at every opportunity, regularly looking to eat up time and frustrate their opponents.

Usually they eventually stood up again unscathed, although centre-back Mahmoud Hamdy El Wensh needed a bandage on a first-half head wound.

At least they ended the game with 11 players, but coach Carlos Queiroz — whose assistant was serving a ban — was shown a red card as the end of normal time loomed after losing his temper on the touchline.

This was Egypt’s third extra time in as many knockout ties, after they needed penalties to beat Côte d’Ivoire in the last 16 and an extra half-hour to get the better of Morocco in the quarter-finals.

Extra time passed with penalties always seeming inevitable, and Aboubakar was the only successful taker for Cameroon as they go out.

Mohamed Abdelmoneim was named Man of The Match and he told CAFonline that this was a difficult match against a good Cameroonian team.

“But our team knew how to make the difference with Mo Salah who supported us throughout the match like a great leader. Thank God, we succeeded in our penalty shootout to secure a place in the final.”

Egypt’s assistant coach, Diaa Elsayed said: “Each time, the Egyptian team are favorites to win the tournament and tonight we played the usual game and we managed to reach the final.

“I would like to thank our coach Carlos Queiroz who was expelled during the game as well as all the players who made the difference with their ardor and grinta throughout the tournament.

“We are happy, it’s true, but we have not yet reached the final objective: the coronation. I can also add that our background is also due to the presence of one of the great players in our training — Mo Salah. A very essential player in our team and who remains the centerpiece for us.”

Cameroon coach Antonio Conceiçao said: “The team played well during the 90′ trying to score goals but we didn’t succeed. We are as sad as the 27 million Cameroonians, but I think the Egyptian team knew how to counter us.

“We’re sad but it’s the reality. The players felt some signs of fatigue at the end of the match, especially after a very physical and intense first half. We had tried to save our energy to counter the opponent but in vain.”

The Indomitable Lions are five champions while Egypt are the record seven-time champions — 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998 and back-to-back in 2006, 2008 and 2010 (all from 25 appearances) — and have now won four of their last four AFCON games against Cameroon (L1).

Cameroon have only progressed from seven of their nine semi-final matches with Egypt at 8 semifinal appearance making it through this round more often in AFCON history.

The AFCON hosts have been eliminated in three of their last five semi-final matches in the competition, with Egypt the last such team to progress from this round (2-1 against Senegal in 2006).

Since the beginning of 2017, no player has been directly involved in more goals (9) at the AFCON than Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (six goals, three assists) or Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar (seven goals, two assists).

Four wins and a draw in the road to the semifinal gave the Indomitable Lions a vast amount of confidence ahead of the encounter against Egypt for the ticket in Sunday’s final but it ended 0-0 after 90 minutes of regulation time and 30 of extra time to go into penalty shootouts.

In the first semifinal on Wednesday, the Teranga Lions of Senegal’s defender Abdou Diallo started the party for the 2019 losing finalists when he calmly slotted in from close range on 71 minutes before Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Dieng doubled their lead from Sadio Mané’s clever cut back.

With time running out the Stallions pulled a goal back eight minutes from time when midfielder Ibrahim Blati Toure latched on to Issa Kabore’s cross but Senegal, the two-time losing finalists, completed their task on 83 minutes through star man Sadio Mané, who now faces fellow Liverpool star, Mo Sallah in the final.—Additional reporting by CAFonline