By Velile Mnyandu in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Egypt national team assistant coach Roger De Sa has hailed the impact of world football superstar Mohammed Salah after he came alive in the third quarter-finals match yesterday and helped the Pharaohs to confirm a place in the semi-finals, beating Morocco 2-1 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaoundé.
In what was a true North African derby, fiery onside the pitch, on the benches, on the stands and including the media tribune, this game had it all but required the brilliance of the superstars to emerge.
And this was exactly what Salah did on the day. Firstly the Liverpool star forward was at the right place at the right time as he equalized early in the second half as the Moroccans finally gave in to the pressure after they had taken an early lead from the penalty spot in the first half through Sofiane Boufal.
The winning goal in extra-time was a thing of beauty from Salah as he took the Atlas Lions defense before finding Trezeguet at the far post to snatch the winning goal. Speaking to iDiski Times at the Mixed Zone after the game, De Sa’s could not stop waxing lyrical about the 29-year-old’s class.
“He is the leader at the moment, isn’t he? And he’s leading by example right now, which is great, you know, great guy, great professional, great footballer. And I think it’s rubbing off on everybody else,” said De Sa about Salah.
De Sa, a member of Bafana Bafana’s AFCON winning squad of 1996, also reflected on their hard fought victory against Morocco.
“For a while, I think most of our second halves are better than our first halves to honest,” he continued
“But very tough game. I mean, Morocco, for me is one of the best teams on the continent for sure. So it didn’t work out in the first five minutes as you saw the penalty. But after that, I thought we got better.
“And we got stronger as the game went on. And, at the end, it could have been more maybe, but great performance, great character. And it’s good. It’s good to be in the final four.”
In what will be repeat of the 2017 AFCON final, Egypt will now face hosts Cameroon in the second semi-final on Thursday, in a game which will see the emotional return to Olembe stadium in Yaoundé, the scene where eight people died because of a stampede a week ago during a game between the hosts and Comoros.
Senegal and Burkina Faso will contest the first semi-final at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium also in Yaoundé on 2 February.
Story by Velile Mnyandu (@Velile_Mnyandu).
