Pharaohs, Tiranga Lions face off tonight as Africa awaits its new masters

Egypt and Senegal will compete to win the title with unalike ambitions.

As for Egypt, it hopes to snatch its eighth title, breaking its own record.

Being a side of today’s final, Egypt also broke its record by appearing ten times in the final match, exceeding the Ghanaian team with nine finals only.

Senegal players, on the other hand, highly desire to clinch their country’s first title.

Today’s final is the third time for Senegal and the second in a row. Senegal lost the 2002 final to Cameroon on penalties and the 2019 final to Algeria 1-0.

Liverpool’s pair, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, two of Africa’s best players, will face off as rivals in Afcon’s biggest stage tonight, each carrying his country’s aspirations on his shoulders.

Egypt entered the contest with low expectations to even advance to the knock-out stages.

Also, injuries played their role in reducing the Egyptian team’s hopes.

In the first match, defensive midfielder, Akram Tawfik, got injured with cruciate ligament rupture.

The list of players who were injured also included centre-back, Mahmoud el-Wensh, goalkeeper, Mohamed el-Shenawy, and centre-back, Ahmed Hegazy.

All these players are part of the main line-up of the Pharaohs who started their journey in the competition with a disappointing loss against Nigeria 1-0.

Although the team won the other two matches of the group stage against Sudan and Guinea-Bissau 1-0 each match, its sluggish performance was unpromising.

Egypt qualified to the 16th stage to meet Ivory Coast. However, the Egyptian team’s performance was astonishing.

The Pharaohs progressed to the quarter-finals after beating the Elephants with 5-4 shoot-outs.

Egypt played against Morocco, which was one of the first nominated teams to snatch the title. Egypt showed great persistence to advance to the semi-final, beating Morocco 2-1 with an inspiring comeback after extra-time.

Egypt had to pass through another tough hurdle, playing against the hosts, Cameroon.

However, the Pharaohs booked their seat in the final after beating the Indomitable Lions 3-1 on penalties at the end of a goalless 120 minute-game, thanks to goalkeeper, Abu Gabal, who saved from Harold Moukoudi and James Lea-Siliki in the shoot-out.

Meanwhile, the Tiranga Lions of Senegal entered the games as one of the strongest teams expected to hold the title.

Senegal was included in Group B with Zimbabwe, Guinea and Malawi.

The Tiranga Lions rose as the first with five points, with only one win against Zimbabwe 1-0, and two draws with Guinea and Malawi without goals.

Senegal qualified to meet Cape Verde in the round of 16, winning 2-0 with a pale performance.

In the quarter-final, the Tiranga Lions won Equatorial Guinea 3-1.

Mane’s mates reached the final after defeating Burkina Faso in the semi-finals 3-1 with an amazing performance.

Egypt and Senegal have gone head-to-head in 12 different occasions, with 6 wins for Egypt, 4 for Senegal and 2 draws.

According to the CAF, the champion will be awarded $5 million, whereas the runner-up will win $2.5 million.