It was an amazing night in Agadir as the Pharaohs locked horns with the Ivory Coast, the defending champions of AFCON. A semi-final berth, along with pride, was at stake. It was time for the big guns to fire from both sides. An electric contest was in store, and so it happened.
Egypt started brilliantly with Omar Marmoush beating his marker to collect a fine pass from the midfield, which opened up the field for the Egyptian star, who showed exemplary composure and finishing skills to get Egypt ahead in the 4th minute of the game.
Stung by the early goal, the Ivory Coast made a series of runs but were unable to score. However, this was not the issue with the Egyptians as they once again found the net in the 32nd minute of the game.
Mo Salah’s terrific delivery from a corner kick found Ramy Rabia, who came up with an incredible header to beat Fofana in goal. Egypt were ahead by 2 as the Ivory Coast, pushed further back, had a mountain to climb.
Ivory Coast, the Elephants, known for their tenacity and fight, were not going to give up so easily. A careless tackle from Emam Ashour led to a free kick for the Ivory Coast, just outside the Egyptian box. The resultant was a scramble in front of the goal, and an own goal resulted. The lead had been halved. So at half-time, with a 2-1 scoreline, the Egyptians were happy, but the Ivory Coast were still very much in it.
Just after half-time, the sublime Salah received an exquisite pass from Ashour ( who made a great run from the left and passed on to Salah). With all his experience, Salah pounced on the ball, beat his marker and buried the ball into the net. It was a terrific goal from the Egyptian King. With 3-1 up, Egypt had pushed their opponents to the fringes.
Ivory Coast, however, still had a lot of belief in themselves as they pressed forward to score and got one back through G. Doué in the 73rd minute in a goalmouth scramble. As the match headed towards closure, the Elephants tried for the equaliser to no end, but the brilliance of El Shenawy, Egypt’s goalkeeper, kept the Ivory Coast at bay.
Egypt emerged victorious 3-2, with a great performance, displaying both their defensive bravado and incredible scoring skills.
The Pharaohs will take on Senegal, the Lions of Teranga, on 14th January in a blockbuster semi-final, which will feature former Liverpool teammates Salah and Sadio Mane coming face to face in an epic battle.
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