The first contender for the Africa Cup of Nations title is clear: thanks to a goal from Sadio Mané in the 1-0 (0-0) semi-final against Egypt, Senegal has the chance to triumph for the second time in the country’s history. In the final, the 2022 champion will face Nigeria or Morocco.
The last time the duel between Senegal and Egypt took place four years ago, the game was even a little more important because it was the final of the Africa Cup of Nations. No goals were scored for over 120 minutes, and in the penalty shootout (4:2), Senegal were crowned AFCON champions for the first time. And when we met again, there were many signs that the game would be similar right from the start.
Egypt moves out Koulibaly injury no benefit
Because the teams offered little football and a lot of fighting. Nicolas Jackson had the first shot of the game for Senegal in the 19th minute, shortly afterwards the FC Bayern Munich striker’s team suffered a setback when captain Kalidou Koulibaly had to leave the field injured. Nevertheless, the Senegalese were the team that at least seemed to be interested in attacking football.
However, not much was achieved, so a fairly harmless attempt by Pape Gueye directly at Egypt’s goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shanewy was the most dangerous action (32′). On the other hand, there was no sign of Mohamed Salah and Co. in the forward game; Senegal had 4-0 shots at half-time, while Egypt’s weak pass rate of 65 percent spoke volumes.
Mané converts the only dangerous move of the game
It continued like this in the second half, there were a few Senegalese shots with no real prospect of scoring and the game offered very little else. Until the 78th minute, when Mané made his big appearance. A blocked shot landed on the chest of the former Bayern attacker, with whom he placed the ball in front of him and dropkicked it from 18 meters to make it 1-0. It was the first really good opportunity in the entire game – and it was enough to get us into the final.
Because even after that nothing came from Egypt. After a corner kick, the first action that could be described as a shot on goal occurred in the 84th minute; it was a header from Ramy Rabia that flew about 15 meters over the opponent’s goal. And in the 95th minute, former Bundesliga striker Omar Marmoush shot the ball into the arms of Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Disappointing performance from Salah
The performance of his superstar was exemplary of the record champion’s weak performance. Salah didn’t fire a single shot, won just four of his 15 duels and completed nine passes. He didn’t succeed in any of his famous dribbles – but he lost the ball 14 times.
For Mo Salah, the dream of winning his first title with Egypt is over.
Egypt suffered a completely deserved defeat due to their destructive style of play, while Senegal is dreaming of their second triumph after 2022 thanks to Mané (now Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate at al-Nassr FC).