Egypt vs Senegal: African titans set for mouth-watering Afcon final
When Egypt lost their opening match at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) against Nigeria three weeks ago, their fans probably thought “here we go again”.
The Pharaohs were the host nation during the last tournament and were hot picks to win the title - but crashed out to South Africa in the round of 16.
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Prior to that, there was a valiant runners-up performance in 2017, but three consecutive failures to qualify between 2012 and 2015.
It’s a far cry from the glory days of three back-to-back triumphs in the late 2000s. After all, Egypt are the most successful team in Afcon history, with a whopping seven titles.
Drawing on that heritage, the Pharaohs clawed their way back from the opening match defeat to make it to the final once again.
Despite having scored four goals in the entire tournament, and rarely looking like world beaters, Egypt are on the brink of another continental title.
But in Sunday’s final they face Senegal, tournament favourites and the world’s highest ranked African team.
At 20th in Fifa’s standings, Senegal are hoping to win their first ever African title. They are ranked 25 places above Egypt, and have won all their knockout matches convincingly.
The most successful team in African history will face off against the highest ranked, in a battle between heritage and form.
Penalty shootout kings
Senegal’s journey through the knockout stages has been smooth, defeating Cape Verde 2-0, before back-to-back 3-1 victories over Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso.
For Egypt meanwhile, it's been far from smooth sailing. All three of their matches in the latter stage have gone beyond 90 minutes: a penalty shootout victory over Ivory Coast, an extra time win over Morocco and another shootout success against Cameroon.
There was no sign that those hard fought wins had frayed the nerves of the Egyptian players who stepped up to take the penalties against Cameroon but the same cannot be said for their fans.
During the semi-final, one jokingly attached a blood pressure monitor to her arm, with the caption: “What watching Egypt play looks like.”
WATCH: Jubilant scenes in the Egyptian locker room and the streets of Cairo as Egypt's football squad narrowly beats #AFCON2021 host Cameroon to reach the tournament finals pic.twitter.com/lhUVz59yF6
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) February 4, 2022
But perhaps they needn’t be so worried: Cameroon failed to offer up much of a challenge from the spot.
The Pharaohs have extraordinarily won six penalty shootouts in a row at Afcon.
Two of those victories were in the final: in 2006 against Ivory Coast and in 1986 against Cameroon. Both of those times Egypt lifted the title on home soil at the Cairo International Stadium.
In Thursday’s semi-final win over Cameroon, backup goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal was the penalty-saving hero.
In a clever tactic, mimicking the likes of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, Gabal used the packaging on a water bottle to remind himself of the favoured side of each Cameroonian player.
Senegal have lost their two previous shootouts in the competition, and while goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is among the best in the world, he is not noted for his penalty-saving.
Salah vs Mane
Sunday’s final will see two of Africa’s best players, Liverpool teammates Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, face off against each other.
This year, Salah is in contention to be crowned only the second African to win the Ballon d’Or individual prize for best footballer in the world, after Liberia's George Weah in 1995.
While the 29-year-old has an impressive trophy cabinet at club level, international silverware has so far eluded him - Egypt’s most recent Afcon triumph in 2010 came a year before his debut.
Meanwhile, with a goal in Wednesday’s semi final, Mane has now become the joint top scorer in Senegalese history, with 29 goals for his country.
The two men have won major domestic and European club titles together - but only one will add an international triumph to their medal collection on Sunday.
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