Liverpool star Mohamed Salah’s hopes of leading Egypt to Africa Cup of Nations were dashed as former team-mate Sadio Mane scored the winner in their semi-final showdown
Sadio Mane ended the hopes of former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah at AFCON. (Image: )
Former Liverpool winger Sadio Mane has praised former teammate Mohamed Salah for his Egypt heroics after ending his Africa Cup of Nations hopes. The Senegal icon scored the only goal of the game as he booked his nation’s place in Sunday’s final against Morocco.
For Salah, he will look to earn bronze against Nigeria as they were denied a place in the continent’s showpiece match on penalties. The 33-year-old will now be forced to wait for another bite at ending the Pharaohs’ quest for the piece of silverware, which has eluded Salah and Egypt’s grasp since the triumph in Angola, 16 years ago.
The Liverpool forward will be 36 by the time the next tournament comes around, hosted across three nations with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania host the tournament, held between June and July 2027.
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Speaking to BBC World Service, Mane: “It is not easy for him – but still best of luck.
“He did everything to carry his team until now. Unfortunately one of us had to (lose). I’m happy (to be) in the final.”
The two shared an embrace as they prepared to make their way to the field, but the semi-final wasn’t without incident, however, with Salah bringing his former teammate down to halt a breakaway, sparking a tussle between the respective benches.
The Egyptian avoided punishment for the incident as both he and Mane played peace-makers in a bid to simmer the bubbling tensions in the high-stakes semi-final.
Mane left Liverpool in 2022 to join Bayern Munich before ending his nightmare stint in Bavaria to join the Saudi Pro League exodus, linking up with Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was a familiar feeling of disappointment for Salah against his former Liverpool strike partner after Senegal denied Egypt during the 2021 AFCON final.
The tie was goalless after 120 minutes with Mane missing a penalty inside 10 minutes but he atoned for his error during the penalty shootout to claim a famous victory. The 4-2 win on spotkicks meant that Salah was denied the chance to salvage their place in the showpiece with Mohamed Abdelmonem and Mohanad Lasheen denied.
Salah had performed heroics for Houssam Hassan’s side during this instalment of the competition, netting four goals with only Brahim Diaz scoring more in the hunt for the golden boot.
The 33-year-old scored in each of his first four appearances in the competition, with a decision being taken for him to be rested in the dead-rubber against Angola in their final Group B match, including key contributions against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Egypt manager Hassan launched an extraordinary rant in the wake of Egypt’s semi-final exit. He said: “Egypt does not need excuses and apologies. Egypt is great and no one will dare to win seven titles like us.
“We just needed fairness like (Senegal). We played the day after the Senegal match, who are playing in the semi on the same field, and I’m surprised by that. By what FIFA law is what happened to the Egypt team done?”
He continued. “When a team reaches the semis, do you honour it or torture it? It is expected that teams will be given a break fairly among them to see a great semi, but what happened is that the three teams got more rest.
“I told the players to ignore (the chants from the stands) and focus. I don’t want to talk about it. We are Arabs of Africa, and Egypt is great, the mother of the Arabs and the mother of Africa in terms of history and titles, and everyone is jealous!”
