Mohamed Salah’s Africa Cup of Nations has been curtailed by injury but there will be no return to Egypt’s glory hopes after DR Congo were stunned in the last 16.
Mohamed Salah’s hopes of returning to Egypt to lead them to Africa Cup of Nations glory are over after the Pharaohs were stunned by DR Congo.
The seven-time champions were hoping to win the tournament for the first time since 2010 with Salah desperate to lift the trophy that remains missing from his CV. However, he will have been watching from England, continuing his rehabilitation from injury, as Egypt were knocked out 8-7 on penalties.
The last 16 match ended 1-1 after 120 minutes with Meschack Elia putting DR Congo, ranked 67th in the world, on the brink of an upset. That only lasted nine minutes though as Mostafa Mohamed converted a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Penalties were needed to settle the match and DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi scored the 18th penalty of a pulsating shot to send the underdogs into the last eight.
Pharaohs keeper Gabaski had seen his effort hit the top of the crossbar in the ninth round of the shootout, giving Bassi his moment of glory. It means Egypt exit the tournament having failed to win a single game after three consecutive draws in the group stage.
They were without Salah, who was ruled out with a hamstring problem and returned to Liverpool to recover from injury with the hope of returning to Africa to join his country in the latter stages, but that is no longer possible.
His and Egypt’s disappointment is perhaps a positive for the Reds, who can potentially bring him back into the fold sooner than expected. Salah and his country were beaten finalists in the last edition of the tournament but failed to even match that feat this time.
Salah recently underlined his desire to finally win the tournament: “I’ve won everything, but not this yet. Everyone knows what it means to any player to win an Africa Cup of Nations. We were unlucky in the last one, but also in Gabon. The players they are very motivated to win the tournament. We all want to win it.”
The last time DR Congo beat Egypt in an AFCON clash was in the semi-finals 50 years ago – the year they lifted the trophy. They will now play Guinea on Friday.
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