Egypt 3 Ivory Coast 2: Salah sets up Liverpool reunion with Mane in AFCON semi-final
Salah's dreams of a first AFCON title are very much alive after a tense win against Ivory Coast
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt set up an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-final against Sadio Mane’s Senegal on Wednesday with a nail-biting 3-2 win against Ivory Coast.
The former Liverpool team-mates will meet after a quarter-final in which the holders Ivory Coast crumbled in the first half, before recovering and almost forcing extra time.
Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush slotted Egypt ahead in the fourth minute after a mix-up in the Ivorian midfield and defence. Egypt then extended their lead in the 32nd minute with Ramy Rabia’s looping header from a Salah corner.
But Ivory Coast dragged themselves back into the contest in the 40th minute, as Yan Diomande’s whipped free-kick was flicked on by Odilon Kossounou and went in off Egypt left-back Ahmed Fatouh.
Salah looked to have ended the contest in the 52nd minute when he turned home Emam Ashour’s outside-of-the-boot cross following a pass over the top by Rabia. But a goalmouth scramble in the 73rd minute led to Guela Doue forcing home a corner for Ivory Coast to make it 3-2.
Egypt held on, however, and Salah’s dreams of a first AFCON title are alive.
Here, Gregg Evans and Nnamdi Onyeagwara break down the key talking points.
Salah and Mane to meet again
Salah will now line up against his former Liverpool team-mate Mane in an exciting re-run of the 2021 AFCON final.
Senegal came out on top back then, eventually seeing off Egypt on penalties to win the tournament, and no doubt Salah will be looking for some form of revenge in the semi-final.
With both players still leading their respective nations, this has a clash of the titans feel to it, and their previously strained relationship at Liverpool adds to the intriguing storyline.
Despite winning four major trophies together, including Liverpool’s first Premier League title for 30 years in 2019-2020, Salah and Mane were not close off the pitch, and occasionally clashed.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah after the 2021 AFCON final (Adam Haneen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The friction was caused by their competitiveness. Even in their latter years, with Mane now playing in the Saudi Pro League with Al Nassr, that has not waned.
Mane spoke before the quarter-final about handling the pressure during his sixth AFCON and helping guide others through. He has scored just one goal in five games so far, whereas Salah, the man under the most pressure in the tournament, is on four and chasing the top goalscorer award.
Salah is yet to win AFCON, though, and, as that pressure builds, a game of this magnitude will only add to that weight. It will be fascinating to see who comes out on top.
Gregg Evans
