By Prosper E. on February 4, 2022

Egypt’s talisman, Mohammed Salah, chose the best possible way to reply Cameroun captain, Vincent Aboubaker, by leading the record African champions to another Africa Cup of Nations final in place of the Indomitable Lions.

Just before yesterday’s semi final at the Olembe Stadium, Yaounde, Aboubaker went on a rant, saying that Salah “doesn’t produce a lot of stuff in the game.”

Aboubakar, the tournament’s top scorer with six goals, was eager to play down Salah’s threat while speaking ahead of the match, added: “He doesn’t impress me much. I say it clearly because I’m an honest person and I have my way of seeing things.

“He’s a good player, he scores a lot but he doesn’t produce a lot of stuff in the game. He’s a good player but not at the level of some like Mbappe.”

Rather than dampen the Egyptians, Aboubaker’s rant brought out the best in the more technically drilled Pharaohs, who held the host to a goalless 120 minutes before the battle was settled by a penalty shoot out.

Egypt scored four of their five kicks, while Cameroun lost three, handing the seventh time champions a final berth against Senegal.

In a game where Egypt manager, Carlos Queiroz, was sent off in the dying moments of normal time, the Pharaohs came with a highly technical game, bottling the midfield and denying Aboubakar and his strike partner, Karl Teko-Ekambi, the service to trouble the North Africans.

The game had been an evenly poised affair with both sides having chances at either end, but took a turn towards the end of normal time.

With just minutes to go in the second half, Queiroz was left incensed by a challenge on one of his players.

The Portuguese had been questioning referee Bakary Gassama for large amounts of the game and had already been shown a yellow card for his antics on the touchline.

He overstepped the mark in the closing stages and was dismissed from the technical area, as his assistant tried to hold him back from the referee.

His dismissal left Egypt with just their assistant manager and the experience of Mohamed Salah to help them try to reach the final.

Queiroz’s assistant, Roger De Sá, almost faced a similar fate, however he was only brandished a yellow card shortly after his principal was given his marching orders.

That was what Sá did as he guided the Egyptians to a penalty shoot out win that pits them against Sadio Mane’s Senegal in the final on Sunday.

Mane booked his place in the final by chipping in with a goal and an assist as Senegal brushed Burkina Faso aside in their semi-final clash on Wednesday.

It remains to be seen whether he will come out on top against Salah and Egypt, who struggled to get into the game throughout the first half as Cameroun stamped their authority on the contest from the first whistle.

The hosts started well and began to ask questions of Egypt’s defence in the early stages of the match, with the Indomitable Lions feeding off the raucous atmosphere created by the partisan home crowd.

They went close after just 17 minutes when Aboubakar struck the woodwork with a headed effort from close range.

Michael Ngadeu and Toko-Ekambi missed further chances to hand their side an early lead just moments later, with Cameroun unable to break the deadlock before the interval.

Egypt were forced into mounting their attacks on the break in order to stand any chance of shifting the momentum in their favour as the second half progressed.

However, they often found themselves unable to stay on the ball for long enough, leaving Salah isolated in his role as the team’s main attacking outlet.

The Liverpool ace registered his first shot on target shortly before the hour mark but was unable to cause any problems for Andre Onana between the sticks with a trickled effort from the edge of the area.

He was later denied once again by the Cameroun stopper as he bore down on goal after he was gifted possession on the edge of the area.

Emotions began to run high as the clock ticked down, with Egypt boss Carlos Quieroz being shown a red card on the touchline during the closing stages of normal time.

However, neither side were able to find the elusive winning goal ahead of the full-time whistle, with penalties eventually being required to decide the result.

Salah did not even get the chance to take a spot-kick, with Cameroun seeing two efforts saved before missing the decisive penalty to send Egypt into Sunday’s all-important final.

Source Guardian

Posted February 4, 2022

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