AFCON 2021: Egypt Beats Cameroon on Penalties to Meet Senegal in the Final
Egypt defeated the host Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final after a goalless draw in normal time in the match where The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon looked the more likely side to find the net in the 90 minutes after hitting the post twice.
Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui’s looping header and Samuel Gouet’s powerful long-range strike troubled The Pharaohs defence while their star man Mohamed Salah was quiet for large parts of the match, that was played at Olembe Stadium in capital city, Yaoundé.
The Liverpool forward had one chance which saw him firing a curling effort from outside the box just over the crossbar but also pounced on a loose back pass but could not make the opponent win.
Opting not to step up in the penalty shootout, Salah relied on goalkeeper Gabal to provide the heroics.The 33-year-old saved Harold Moukoudi and James Lea Siliki’s spot kicks while Clinton N’Jie side-footed the ball wide from 12 yards to dump Cameroon out of their home tournament.The result avenged Egypt’s 2-1 loss in the 2017 final.
Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz was sent off in the 90th minute for berating the referee while his assistant Wael Gomaa was cautioned too. Although his absence did his team no harm, both the Portuguese coach and Gomaa are set to be missing from the touchline for the final. Gomaa was also yellow-carded in the quarter-final fixture with Morocco.
Egypt also beat Ivory Coast on penalties, in the round-of-16. Cameroon will now play Burkina Faso, who lost 3-1 to Senegal in the other semi-final in the third-place playoff before the final.
