YAOUNDÉ —
Sadio Mane trumped Liverpool teammate
Mohamed Salah in the Africa Cup of Nations final, but the Egyptian will soon
have a chance to even the score in a World Cup play-off.
اضافة اعلان
Egypt confront Mane-inspired Senegal home and away in March
with a ticket to the
2022 World Cup in Qatar at stake.
Ghana meet
Nigeria, Cameroon play Algeria, Mali face Tunisia
and the Democratic Republic of Congo tackle Morocco in the other play-offs.
But it is the showdown between the Egyptian Pharaohs and the
Senegalese Teranga Lions that will capture the imagination with
Premier League
sharpshooters Salah and Mane dominating the headlines.
Mane not only helped Senegal conquer Africa for the first
time after a penalty shootout triumph in Cameroon on Sunday, he was also voted
the player of the tournament.
The 29-year-old scored three of the nine Senegalese goals in
seven matches and recovered swiftly from being injured in a last-16 win over
Cape Verde to inspire his team.
In the final, he had an early penalty saved by Mohamed Abou
Gabal, but atoned by slotting the spot-kick that won the shootout after 120
goalless minutes dominated by the west Africans.
After a slow start to the 29-day flagship African
tournament, Salah led his team through a far harder knockout-phase path than
Senegal to the title decider.
Effectively facing three finals before the final, Egypt
pipped the Ivory Coast on penalties, came from behind to beat
Morocco in extra
time, then overcame Cameroon in another shootout.
Abou Gabal, who surprisingly lost out to final rival Edouard
Mendy for the goalkeeper of the tournament award, kept Senegal at bay in
regular and extra time.
But he may not face Mane in the World Cup if first-choice
keeper Mohamed Elshenawy recovers from an injury sustained against the
Ivorians.
Queiroz conundrum
It is a conundrum for coach
Carlos Queiroz, who must watch
the first leg of the play-off from a stand unless an appeal against a red card
in the Cup of Nations clash with Cameroon succeeds.
His assistant, South African Roger de Sa, was banned for
four matches after an undisclosed incident following the victory over Morocco,
ruling him out of both legs.
Seeking a fourth straight World Cup appearance, after
guiding Portugal in 2010 and Iran in 2014 and 2018, the former Real Madrid
manager and twice Manchester United assistant manager has his work cut out.
But for Abou Gabal, Senegal would have won the final by
several goals in 90 minutes, while Egypt created few scoring
opportunities.
After suffering a first shootout loss at a
Cup of Nations,
Egypt have also lost the aura of invincibility when it comes to penalty taking.
Mali, alone among the 10 contenders in not having qualified
for a World Cup, defeated Tunisia 1-0 through an Ibrahima Kone penalty in
a controversial Cup of Nations group match.
Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe blamed heatstroke and severe
dehydration for signaling the end of the match when there was still several
minutes to play.
Tunisia later fired coach Mondher Kebaier after a last-eight
loss to Burkina Faso, and both Ghana and Nigeria will have new handlers.
Ghana have yet to replace sacked Serbian Milovan Rajevac,
who paid the price for a first-round exit from the Cup of Nations after a
stunning loss to minnows the Comoros.
Nigeria went to Cameroon with technical director Augustine
Eguavoen in charge after the dismissal of German Gernot Rohr following an
unimpressive
World Cup group campaign.
Portuguese Jose Peseiro, whose experience of Africa is
limited to a brief spell with Egyptian club giants Al-Ahly, now takes over.
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