Getty Egypt’s forward Mohamed Salah (R) poses with the man of the match trophy after the Group D Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2021 football match between Guinea-Bissau and Egypt at Stade Roumde Adjia in Garoua on January 15, 2022. (Photo by Daniel BELOUMOU OLOMO / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO/AFP via Getty Images)
Egypt came into their match against Guinea-Bissay knowing they were on the edge of the abyss. This was the prevailing thought after losing their African Cup of Nations opener against Nigeria and when it seemed destined for a dangerous draw for his interests, Mohamed Salah appeared at the right time to resurrect Egypt, who won 0-1 against Guinea- Bissau with a controversial goal disallowed against Mama Baldé at the end of the match.
Missing in action in his debut against Nigeria, Salah redeemed himself in a hard-fought game for the team led by Carlos Queiroz. His was the decisive goal in a game that could have gone wrong for Egypt at the end when Baldé scored the equalizer at the death and it was disallowed by VAR to the disappointment of the underdogs.
In fact, Baldé had the chance of scoring what could have been one of the best goals in the Africa Cup of Nations taken away from him. With nine minutes remaining in the duel, he went all out from the left wing. He left Ayman Ashraf on the way and, from the top of the area, unleashing a right-footed shot that was unreachable for goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
Then, the Burundian referee Pacifique Ndabihaweniman warned by the VAR, saw a very rigorous foul on Ashraf, who ended up on the ground when he was passed by Baldé just before his shot. Fortunately for Egypt, the referee decided in their favor and breathed easy with a victory that they needed to not have too many problems on the last day of the group stage.
And it is that, after losing against Nigeria, already qualified for the round of 16 after beating Sudan this Saturday (3-1), Egypt could not afford to suffer another puncture. Therefore, he jumped onto the pitch plugged in. Within the first twenty minutes he was able to score, but the Guinean goal posts prevented Salah and Mostafa Mohamed from opening the scoring.
After their chances, Egypt got bogged down and could only hit the table once in the final stretch of the match, when, now, Salah did not miss a volley that pierced the Guinea-Bissau goal. That was the only goal of the game. The other was cancelled. It was enough for Egypt, they can still be eliminated in the group stage. If they lose to Sudan and Guinea-Bissau beat Nigeria, they will be out.
Egypt will now have to win in order to put themselves in a position to advance to the next round when they face Sudan.
Source: Heavy
