Afcon 2021: Salah to face Mane as Egypt beat Cameroon to final ticket
Before tonight, the Africa Cup of Nations hosts have been eliminated in three of their last five semi-final matches in the competition
Though they lost to Nigeria in their opening game, Egypt are now through to the Africa Cup of Nations final after winning the penalty shootout 3-1 against Cameroon on Thursday
After 120 minutes of action with no goals to separate the two teams, the game went into penalty kicks and it was the North Africans that prevailed.
Leading by example, Vincent Aboubakar took the first kick for Cameroon and scored while Zizou did the same for Egypt.
The fans were left dumbfounded when Harold Moukoudi took the second kick for Cameroon and lost while Egypt scored theirs to take the lead.
The bad situation for Cameroon got worse when the Egypt goalkeeper saved the third kick taken by James Lea Silik while the Pharaoh socred to effectively win 3-1 and set up a final clash against Senegal’s Teranga Lions.
Abou-Gabal was also the hero when Egypt defeated Cote d'Ivoire in the shootout following another goalless draw in the round of 16, making the difference with a superb one-handed save after replacing the injured Mohamed El-Shennawi with two minutes remaining.
Egypt edged closer to a record-extending eighth crown, and their first since 2010, but they face another tough clash against Senegal, who are making a second successive appearance in the final, on Sunday
Before tonight, the Africa Cup of Nations hosts have been eliminated in three of their last five semi-final matches in the competition, with Egypt the last such team to progress from this round (2-1 against Senegal in 2006).
