Adrenaline levels are high among football enthusiasts as Senegal and Egypt prepare to rumble tonight at 9Pm for the Finale of the CAF African Nations Championship.
All eyes will be on Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah as the Africa Cup of Nations 2022 reaches its climax but there is plenty more to intrigue about these two contrasting teams
These two players are sourced from the same Liverpool frontline,But tonight it will be what makes Egypt and Senegal so different.
Egypt have somehow managed to become more gnarled than ever before. They have scored four times in 630 tournament minutes and have played three periods of extra-time and two penalty shootouts. They’re here for a long time, not to provide a good time.
That partly reflects the mismatched quality of opponents that each have faced. Egypt met five former Afcon winners in their six matches and their knockout path was daunting: Ivory Coast, Morocco and hosts Cameroon.
Conversely, Senegal’s three knockout ties until the final were against the countries ranked 11th, 14th and 28th in Africa. Being in the top half of the draw has afforded VIP access in this tournament.
If that might suggest some sympathy or goodwill for Egypt, they have extinguished it emphatically over the last week.
The line between dark arts and cheating is both blurred and shifts according to the eyes of the beholder, but most can agree that Egypt have pushed the envelope.
In their semi-final against Cameroon, one of their players fell to the turf in agony on no less than 13 occasions. And yet when they are the ones penalised for fouls, it causes an emotional explosion.
All of which creates a remarkable scenario for the final in which neither Egypt manager Carlos Quieroz nor his assistant Roger de Sa will be on the touchline after receiving bans for their histrionic behaviour.
Quieroz continued his complaints after the game, insisting that referee Bakary Gassama had insufficient experience or expertise to officiate at Afcon.
Gassama refereed at the last World Cup and is probably the best on the continent.
For all the brilliance of Mohamed Salah, it is this deliberate victim complex that is Egypt’s greatest weapon.
In their post-match press conference on Thursday, assistant coach Diaa El-Sayed bemoaned the state of the pitches, state of the refereeing and the state of the tournament’s scheduling.
He accused CAF of “not caring about Egypt” and repeatedly referenced the manner in which the group had suffered in this tournament.
It is basic psychology: adversity breeds determination, even if you manufacture it.
