Mohamed Salah and Egypt were forced to battle against green lasers as Senegal supporters looked to rile their World Cup qualification rivals in their crunch play-off second leg in Dakar.
The Pharaohs were out for revenge after losing the Africa Cup of Nations final to their opponents on penalties just a matter of weeks ago and they took a narrow lead into the decider following Friday evening’s 1-0 triumph in Egypt.
As the teams lined up for the national anthems, a green laser was flashed into the eyes of Liverpool’s star man Salah, who was unmoved.
It was a constant theme throughout the opening stages of the contest, which would suggest this was a clear plan of action from the home crowd.
There also appeared to be multiple flashes, particularly during incidents in which the ball was not in play.
A number of Egyptian players were down with injuries in the opening 15 minutes and the green lasers continued to flash on the players from above.
Goalkeeper Mohammed El Shenawy and Aston Villa winger Trezeguet (on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir) were both targeted as they laid on the floor – the former appeared to be struck by a bottle thrown from the crowd.
Several Egypt stars even appeared to inform the referee, who was seemingly helpless given the lasers were coming from those in the crowd.
Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny was also affected during talks with the officials.
Fans were particularly keen to unnerve Egypt’s goalkeeper from set-pieces when the green laser could be spotted shining on his face.
And it worked after just a matter of minutes when Villarreal frontman Boulaye Dia drew Senegal level on aggregate.
After an inviting, deep cross from former Everton man Idrissa Gana Gueye, the ball was nodded back across goal for the forward to fire home.
Egypt boss Carlos Queiroz, formerly of Manchester United, was then forced into some early changes to his frustration.
First Rami Rabia was stretchered off after just 30 minutes before being replaced by Ayman Ashraf.
Seven minutes later Omar Gaber was also stretchered off through injury before Emam Ashour entered the fray.
Senegal were making their physical presence count as several full-blooded challenges went in on the visitors.
With the scores level after 120 minutes of action on the night, we headed for penalties – just like the Africa Cup of Nations final.
Unfortunately for Egypt and Salah, the lasers were now in full force.
The Liverpool man surprisingly choked under the pressure, firing his penalty over the bar.
Egypt would then miss two more spot-kicks as Ismaila Sarr, Bamba Dieng and Sadio Mane scored to send Senegal to Qatar.
