ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire – Egypt is aware that they will have to improve their performance radically if they want to progress further in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after they reached the last 16 by drawing all three of their Group B games, stand-in captain Ahmed Hegazy said.
Egypt came from behind to take a 2-1 lead over already-qualified Cape Verde but conceded a last-gasp goal that left them with only three points from three 2-2 draws.
They still went through after Mozambique netted two late goals to earn a 2-2 draw with Ghana, with both sides finishing on two points in Group B.
“We are very unhappy with our results in the group stage. We need to fix aspects of our game,” Hegazy said according to Reuters.
“We have to improve. Our team boasts high-profile players who should carry out their responsibilities better. In the coming games, we will not have a chance to make up (for any slip-up),” added the central defender, who plays for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad.
The second-half introduction of winger Mahmoud Hassan ‘Trezeguet’ gave Egypt a much-needed boost and he made an immediate impact, levelling the score from a narrow angle on 50 minutes.
He also set up striker Mostafa Mohamed for a second with a delightful long pass three minutes into stoppage time but some poor goalkeeping and slack defending gifted Cape Verde an equaliser at the death through Bryan Teixeira.
Trezeguet believes Egypt’s vast experience can power them to CAF AFCON glory after booking their last-16 spot.
The winger earned Man of the Match honours for a tireless display as Egypt dramatically drew 2-2 with Cape Verde to qualify from Group B.
Trezeguet, who grabbed Egypt’s second equaliser late on, remained bullish about their chances after reaching the knockouts. “With 10 years in the national team for me, there is nothing above football,” declared Trezeguet post-match according to cafonline.
“If it pleases God, our generation will leave with the trophy because we want to make history.”
The player was keen to highlight Egypt’s fighting spirit and quality in the squad. “We gave everything for this qualification with fantastic teammates. Now the real competition begins,” noted Trezeguet.
With Egypt frequent AFCON contender, the winger feels past experience can be decisive. “In the knockout matches, our experience will make the difference if God wills and we will go to the end,” Trezeguet insisted confidently.
“It’s not important in this situation; what matters is that we qualify. We are an attacking team … so it’s only natural that we concede at times,” Egypt coach Rui Vitoria said.
The Portuguese coach confirmed that the hamstring injury suffered by captain Mohamed Salah at the AFCON would require a longer recovery period than first suggested as the forward prepares to return to Liverpool to undergo treatment.
After initially ruling him out for two games, they said the hope was that the 31-year-old would return for the AFCON semi-finals, should Egypt make it that far.
However, an Egypt team source said they expected him to be out for 10 to 14 days.
“I want to take this opportunity to clarify things. Salah has an injury, which we learned before this game was a longer-term injury than we first thought, so we have had to prolong the amount of time before he can play again,” Vitoria said after Cape Verde game according to AFP.
“Before the game we did not want to say anything. Meanwhile, everything was in the control of our excellent medical team,” he said, indicating that it made sense for Salah to go back to Liverpool given the Egyptian squad will now be leaving Abidjan in any case to play a last-16 tie in the city of San-Pedro.
“Given we were going to have to travel, given the temperatures, given that we were going to be going to a different city, maybe it makes sense that Salah should have a place he can go to recover as quickly as possible,” he said, while expressing annoyance at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
“We didn’t want to alarm anyone. I didn’t think it was right for Liverpool, via any intermediary, to speak about this, because we had a tremendously important game today,” he said after Klopp suggested on Sunday that Salah would return to Anfield for treatment.
“Salah has always been with us. Now this game is over we will find the best solution for the treatment of the player. These are the facts. This is the situation,” said the Egypt coach.
Elsewhere, Mozambique scored two stoppage-time penalties to sensationally salvage a 2-2 draw against Ghana.
With two points, Ghana now has a slim chance to progress to the knockout round of the CAF AFCON 2023.
The Black Stars looked set to pick up their first Group B win after Jordan Ayew netted two first-half spot kicks following fouls on Joseph Painstil and Mohammed Kudus.
But Mozambique launched a remarkable late fightback after Andre Ayew gave away a penalty converted by Geny Catamo in the 90th minute.
With the final action of a dramatic match, Reinildo Mandava then slammed in a second penalty to steal a point amid unbelievable scenes.
The astonishing comeback leaves the Black Stars still searching for their first victory at AFCON 2023 after three matches.
Mozambique at least claimed their first point but both sides have exited at the group stage along with Gabon.
The Black Stars needed a win to progress but were undone by an incredible 23-minute Mozambican barrage in the dying moments.
The Ghanaian side had impressed for long spells but crumbled under pressure right at the death to put them on the brink of an early exit from the tournament in miserable fashion.
After dominating much of the match, careless defending ultimately proved Ghana’s undoing as Mozambique snatched a thrilling point.
