Salah rescues Egypt from nightmare start as AFCON hopes already in the balance

14 January 2024 , 19:50

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Mohamed Salah spared Egypt's blushes but the Pharaoh's will be disappointed with just a point

Mohamed Salah's last-gasp penalty saved Egypt from a potential nightmare against minnows Mozambique to rescue a point in their dramatic Africa Cup of Nations opener.

Mozambique, ranked 111th in the world, have never won an AFCON game in their history, while Egypt boast the record for most wins in the tournament. For so long it looked like Mozambique would hold on for one of the most remarkable victories in the competition's history, but a Salah penalty in second-half stoppage time meant the spoils were shared.

The Pharaohs went ahead in their first game inside two minutes, with Salah setting up Mostafa Mohamed to fire them in front. However, the second half saw a different Mozambique emerge and after two goals inside three minutes, the game was flipped on its head just before the hour mark.

There was to be one final twist when Salah stepped up from the penalty spot deep in the 97th minute to rescue a point for his country. His effort struck the post before eventually finding the net.

While Egypt will be glad to have had their blushes spared, a draw is still a disappointing result for a side that harbour ambitions of winning the entire tournament. The result may well be music to the ears of Jurgen Klopp, given the Liverpool boss openly admitted he wants his star players back from international duty as soon as possible.

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The longer Salah is in the Ivory Coast with Egypt, the longer Liverpool have to keep their title hopes alive without their main man. The Anfield ace cut a desperately disappointed figure at full-time, but Klopp will have a smile on his face given it increases the chance of his star forward coming home sooner.

Before the tournament, the Reds boss made little secret of his hopes for both AFCON and the Asia Cup, where fellow Liverpool talent Wataru Endo is representing Japan.

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Mohamed Salah's Egypt were held to a 2-2 draw in a gam they were widely expected to win

Klopp told reporters earlier this month: "I said, if I wish you good luck, it would be a lie! That's not what I did, obviously. From a personal point of view, I would be happy if they went out of the group stage but it's probably not possible, and then they can go and win it as well.

"Good luck, see you, come back healthy, that's pretty much the words. Now we have to deal with it and will deal with it."

Were Egypt to reach the quarter finals, it means Liverpool would have to visit fellow title contenders Arsenal in February without their star man. Next up for Salah's men is a clash with Ghana on Thursday night, before facing off against Cape Verde next Monday.

Any more slip ups from Egypt in the group stage will surely prove costly to their aim of winning it.

Josh O'Brien