Africa Cup: tomorrow the Egypt-Senegal final, Salah-Manè challenge

The Pharaohs for the roller coaster, the Lions of Taranga for a magical first time. The Africa Cup of Nations final which will be staged tomorrow at 8pm at the Olembè stadium in Yaoundè, however it ends, will write a page of history. Egypt has the chance to extend to the top of the ranking of the nations with the most successes, which already commands with 7 (the last in 2010), two more than Cameroon who eliminated on penalties in the semifinals, Senegal to raise the trophy after having failed the last step in 2002 (ko with the Indomitable Lions on penalties) and in the last edition (defeated 1-0 by Algeria). But that of Olembè will be above all the “fratricidal” challenge between the two Reds, the Egyptian Momo Salah and the Senegalese Sadio Manè, both of which expire their contract with Liverpool in June 2023.

tris

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Tomorrow is also the first of a triptych of meetings with a very high specific weight between Egypt and Senegal. On 23 and 29 March the two national teams will return to face each other in the play-offs to access the World Cup in Qatar next November. The draw on 21 January in Douala put them up against each other in one of the 5 African playoffs. The Pharaohs (like Cameroon who drew Algeria) were not seeded as FIFA did not want to wait for the outcome of the Africa Cup which will revolutionize the current ranking, on which it was based to divide the participants. .

favorites

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According to what has been seen so far on the pitch, Senegal appears to be the favorite. He has a defense, captained by Napoli central Kalidou Koulibaly who has only conceded two goals in six games (in the quarterfinals from Equatorial Guinea and in the semifinals from Burkina Faso, both races won 3-1) having instead achieved 9 (Manè with 3 the top scorer). Coach Aliou Cissè’s team appeared to be growing game after game. Cissè is one of 16 African coaches out of 24 participants, a record that bodes well for the future of the category even if the former Cameroon coach Claude LeRoy (who led to success in Can 1988) disagrees: “The racialization the question is purely populist and wrong, ”he said. At the helm of Egypt is the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, for 8 years coach of Iran before joining the Pharaohs in 2021. Salah’s team struggled in the group stage (second behind Nigeria) and went on to penalties in the round of 16 against the Ivory Coast, in extra time in the quarterfinals with Morocco and again at the penalties in the semifinals with Cameroon. However, a much more complicated path than that of Senegal.

Controversy

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Queiroz after the victory over Cameroon complained about the less rest day than the Taranga Lions (who had played the semifinal the previous day), even going so far as to ask Caf to move the final to Monday, obviously without success. The three overtime, which added together make one more game, could weigh on the Egyptians’ legs. Yesterday, however, it was Cissè who kept Manè at rest, who did not train even if he was not injured. And speaking of rest, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that he will give the winner a few more days of rest so that he can return to celebrate his triumph in his country. Good news for Inter, who will face the Reds at San Siro on Wednesday 16 in the first leg of the round of 16.

consolation

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Tonight at 20 (it was initially scheduled for tomorrow at 17, then wisely anticipated to allow those who want to see both matches) at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaoundé the useless final for the third place between the disappointed, Cameroon and Burkina Faso will be played. Especially the hosts, whose elimination on penalties sparked the inevitable controversy. To add fuel to the fire were the hot phrases of Captain Vincent Aboubakar to the microphones of Canal +: “It is a great disappointment, we organized the cup and we went out in the semifinals because too many wanted to be heroes, forgetting that you win squad. This is what happens when you play with selfishness ”. Karl Toko Ekambi’s reply is ready: “He can say what he wants, everyone has the right to their own opinions. We tried, I don’t want to make a controversy ”. And there are already those who ask for the head of coach Antonio Conceicao, guilty of having left Eric Choupo-Moting on the bench for all 120 minutes, Bayern striker, considered one of the best players of the Lions, with 17 goals in 65 appearances.