He was full of doubt at Liverpool. Left on the bench twice by Arne Slot at the beginning of December, then removed from the team following his resounding statements against his coach, Mohamed Salah had only played two ends of the match in recent weeks, before flying off to Morocco and the African Cup of Nations. His first appearance with Egypt, against Zimbabwe on Monday, was therefore highly anticipated.
And the Pharaoh did not disappoint. From the first quarter of an hour, we only saw him. First via a caviar on the head of Trezeguet, whose attempt was pushed back on the line by the Zimbabwean goalkeeper (6th), then by a blocked shot (8th). He then delivered another wonderful cross, wasted by Emam Ashour (12th), before having his ankle crushed by Prince Dube (14th). The star is in good shape, there is no doubt about it.
At the other end of the field, Egypt’s defense was far less impressive. Feverish and too spaced out, it first allowed this same Prince Dube to open the scoring (20th), before getting another big scare five minutes later. The heist was perfect, the Pharaohs absolutely had to react.
Deliverance via Mo Salah
Conversely, they slowly died out. To the point of pushing coach Hossam Hassan to make a tactical change in the 34th minute, with the entry into play of Nantes player Mostafa Mohamed. However, it was not until the 63rd minute that Omar Marmoush, Manchester City striker, found the opening from a mouse hole.
Despite enormous domination and endless chances for the Egyptians, the score remained 1-1 for a long time. On the verge of tripping over their feet, Egypt finally relied on their prodigy, scoring with a left-footed shot in stoppage time. A crazy scenario, which undoubtedly allowed Mohamed Salah to definitively enter his CAN, he who hopes to offer a new title to the most victorious nation in the history of the competition (7 titles).
