The injured Mohamed Salah will not get the chance to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after his Egypt side were knocked out of the competition on Sunday in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Guinea progressed to the last eight.
Seven-time champions set a record Egypt’s match against the Congolese ended 1-1 at the end of extra time in their last-16 match, and they lost 8-7 on penalties.
In the 37th minute, Meschack Elia gave the DR Congo the lead in the Ivorian coastal city of San-Pedro. However, in first-half stoppage time, Mostafa Mohamed equalized for Egypt from the penalty spot.
In the first half of extra time, Mohamed Hamdy was sent off for a second booking, but Egypt managed to hold on for a shoot-out without any more goals.
Two years ago, during the most recent Cup of Nations in Cameroon, they lost to Senegal in the final on penalties after three shootouts in four knockout matches.
Mohamed missed the target with the Pharaohs’ second kick, but Arthur Masuaku then squandered the Leopards’ next attempt.
Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal, better known simply as Gabaski, then put Egypt’s ninth penalty over, and Congolese ‘keeper Lionel Mpasi made no mistake to take DR Congo through to the quarter-finals.
It is a bitter pill for the Egyptians, who had come to Ivory Coast hoping to win a first Cup of Nations since 2010, a year before Salah made his senior international debut.
– Salah dream on hold –
But they stumbled out of their group with three draws, and lost the Liverpool superstar to a hamstring injury in their second game against Ghana.
He had gone back to his club to continue treatment, in the hope of being able to return for the latter stages of the competition, but now his dream of winning the title with his country remains on hold.
Meanwhile, it is the first time DR Congo have won a knockout tie at the tournament since reaching the semi-finals in 2015.
“We practised penalties a lot in training over the last few days and I knew I would need to be ready,” Mpasi, the former Paris Saint-Germain youngster now playing for Rodez in the French second tier, told broadcaster Canal Plus Afrique.
“When I saw Gabaski shoot, we were looking each other in the eyes and I could see he looked a bit nervous.
“When I put the ball on the spot I just tried to stay calm. I thought about the last penalty I took in training and luckily it went well.”
– Bayo hits late winner –
Sebastien Desabre’s team will head to Abidjan for a quarter-final on Friday against Guinea, who beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 earlier with a dramatic winner by Mohamed Bayo in the eighth minute of injury time.
The match at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium was also heading for extra time when Bayo, of French side Le Havre, headed in a cross by Ibrahim Diakite to spark frenzied celebrations among the Guinea team and their large support in a crowd of 36,340.
It was a historic moment for the Syli National, who had never previously won a Cup of Nations knockout tie — they were runners-up in 1976, in an era when the final four played a round-robin format to decide the winner of the trophy.
“It means a lot. We knew that this could be a historic occasion,” said Guinea coach Kaba Diawara, who was in tears at the final whistle.
He called for calm among supporters after reports that six people died amid celebrations in the capital Conakry following the 1-0 win over Gambia during the group stage.
That was after 24 people died and hundreds more were injured in a huge blast and fire at a fuel depot in the city in December.
“We had a catastrophe in December and another after the game against Gambia. So that is enough. Let’s stay calm and enjoy this,” Diawara added.
Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea will be left wondering what could have happened if captain Emilio Nsue had not wasted a penalty kick midway through the second half. Equatorial Guinea saw midfielder Federico Bikoro sent off in the 55th minute.
The top scorer in the competition missed an opportunity to score his sixth goal in this AFCON by sending his penalty against the post and wide.
On Monday in Yamoussoukro, hosts Ivory Coast will play defending champions Senegal. In Abidjan, Cape Verde will play Mauritania.
AFP
