English Premier League pair Mohamed Salah and Lyle Foster were match-winners on Monday as Egypt and South Africa began their Africa Cup of Nations Group B campaigns with victories in Morocco.
Liverpool star Salah struck in the first minute of stoppage-time to snatch a 2-1 win for record seven-time champions Egypt over gallant Zimbabwe in Agadir.
Earlier, second-half dominance by one-time title-holders South Africa paid off when Burnley striker Foster netted on 79 minutes to deliver a 2-1 victory over Angola in Marrakesh.
Photo: AP
The stage is now set for a top-of-the-table showdown between the Pharaohs and Bafana Bafana in Agadir on Friday. They have met three times at the Cup of Nations, with Egypt winning twice.
Salah, whose unhappiness at being a substitute at Liverpool led to an outburst against head coach Arne Slot, worked tirelessly for an Egypt team rattled at falling behind.
Prince Dube scored on 20 minutes and one of the title favorites had to wait until the 63rd minute for Omar Marmoush from Manchester City to equalize.
Relentless pressure from the Pharaohs paid off in the first of five additional minutes when the perseverance of Salah grabbed them all three points.
Earlier, South Africa dominated the second half against Angola in Marrakesh and Foster scored in 79 minutes to deliver a 2-1 victory.
The winner came after Tshepang Moremi had a goal ruled offside and Mbekezeli Mbokazi rattled the crossbar with a shot that rebounded into play.
Oswin Appollis put last year’s bronze medalists South Africa ahead on 21 minutes and, as Angola took control, they leveled through Show after 35 minutes. Victory ended a six-match winless run in their opening Cup of Nations match since 2006 by South Africa. The win also confirmed their dominance over Angola with three victories and two draws in five Cup of Nations meetings.
Belgian head coach Hugo Broos, who guided Cameroon to the title in 2017, admitted he was unhappy with South Africa’s first-half performance.
“We had to avoid losing tonight because next up for us are Egypt. We led in the opening half and then we fell asleep,” Broos said. “We let Angola back into the game, so we put something right during halftime. In the second half, we applied more pressure, there is more movement and we had chances. Tshepang [Moremi] was wonderful when he came on, suddenly there was speed in our team, we were dangerous. He was a threat and he did it very well in the second 45 minutes.”
Meanwhile, Mali coach Tom Saintfiet admitted that conceding a late equalizer in a 1-1 Group A draw with Zambia in Casablanca was “very painful.”
After El Bilal Toure had a first-half penalty saved by Willard Mwanza, Mali took the lead on 61 minutes through Lassina Sinayoko, but as two Mali defenders stood still when the ball was crossed two minutes into stoppage-time, Patson Daka pushed forward to head the equalizer.
“We were aiming to score three goals in this match. Our difficulties began after the missed penalty. We let our emotions take over,” Saintfiet said. “Obviously, I would have preferred to take all three points against Zambia, especially after controlling the game. The equalizer felt like a victory for Zambia and a defeat for Mali. Now we have to prepare properly for the next matches, starting against Morocco on Friday.”
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