On Sunday, the Liverpool Duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were pictured together in-between their respective quarter finals. Today Mane and Senegal face Burkina Faso, and tomorrow Salah and Egypt face Cameroon in the semi-finals.
Egypt’s Quarter final
In Egypt’s AFCON 2021 quarter final game, the Premier League players really stepped up resulting in a 2-1 win for Egypt. Captain Salah was a crucial part of Egypt attaining a semi-final place. Salah managed to score the equalizing goal against Morocco, this was his first goal of the competition and then he went on to set up the second goal for Aston Villa’s Tzezeguet.
The Pharaohs held on to the victory in the end after a very fast pace and challenging game. The last time Egypt won the African cup was 2010, Salah made his debut for his national team a year after this triumph in 2011.
Sengegal’s Quarter Final
In the other AFCON 2021 quarter final game, Senegal beat Equatorial Guinea 3-1. Mane helped his squad by assisting one of the three goals Senegal scored on Sunday.
The 29-year-old suffered a serious head injury in the round of 16, where Senegal played Cape Verde. He appeared to have a brief period of unconsciousness before he fell over on the pitch. He continued playing however we don’t think the Liverpool management and medical team are too happy about this decision.
The Final
As the final approaches this Sunday at 8pm (Local Time), Senegal are the favourites ahead of the semi-finals as fans were surprised that Burkina Faso even made it this far in the competition but anything’s possible in the world of football.
Ahead of the Cameroon vs Egypt game, host team Cameroon are the favourites however, Egypt have played this whole competition with a lot of heart and still have very good chances of winning. This game will be a repeat of the 2017 finals where Cameroon beat Egypt. This could be their chance of redemption.
Neither Salah or Mane have won an AFCON with their national teams before. Maybe on Sunday, we will be watching a Salah, Mane showdown.
