February 04, (THEWILL) – Egypt advanced to the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final after a 3-1 penalty shootout victory over hosts, Cameroon, with goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal the hero for the victors.
The goalkeeper saved spot-kicks from Harold Moukoudi and James Lea Siliki after 120 minutes of scoreless action before Clinton N’Jie completely missed the mark, handing Egypt the victory.
As a result, on Sunday, Egypt will face Senegal in the final, but Carlos Queiroz will be absent from the dugout after being red-carded for two acts of dissent towards the end of regulation time.
The best chance of the first half came in the 18th minute, when Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui’s header hit the post in a low-tempo game plagued with errors.
A back pass error from Martin Hongla offered Mohamed Salah with a wonderful chance to open the score in the second half, but he was unable to round Andre Onana after the goalkeeper came out of his area to intervene with an impressive timely stop.
Samuel Oum Gouet came close to scoring a game-winning goal when his rasping 35-yard effort grazed the outside of the post, and Queiroz was sent out before extra time began.
The extra 30 minutes were insufficient to separate the teams, but Abou Gabal’s heroics ensured Egypt’s place in the final after they were eliminated on home soil in 2019.
It also paves the way for two of Liverpool’s forwards Salah and Mane to contest for African football supremacy. But, Vincent Aboubakar retains the lead in the goal-scoring charts adding a penalty goal to his six scored so far.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
