Key events
The teams!
Egypt: Mohamed El Shenawy, Kamal, Hegazi, Abdelmonem, Hamdy, Hamdi Fathi, Elneny, Salah, Marmoush, Ashour, Mohamed.
Subs: Gabr, Hany, Trezeguet, Kouka, Kahraba, Fatouh, Attia, Mostafa Fathi, Hamada, Abou Gabal, Zizo, Sobhy.
Ghana: Ofori, Odoi, Djiku, Salisu, Mensah, Ashimeru, Kudus, Abdul Samed, Semenyo, Williams, Jordan Ayew.
Subs: Seidu, Opoku, Andre Ayew, Bukari, Wollacott, Paintsil, Owusu, Ati-Zigi, Amartey, Nuamah, Baba, Sowah.
preamble
What a day of Afcon action this is, arguably the biggest day of the tournament so far. Two big games between four giants of the continent: Ivory Coast against Nigeria and Egypt against Ghana. The first game has already ended (1-0 against Nigeria) and we are presenting the latter to you here.
Traditionally, all four nations hold out hope of taking home the trophy next month, although only one of those four nations has won one of the last six Afcon tournaments: Ivory Coast in 2015, which beat Ghana in the final. However, Morocco and Senegal remain favorites to win this year’s title after both teams registered a 3-0 win in their opening group stage games.
How Egypt and Ghana wish they were in the same situation. Group B is difficult and getting more difficult: Egypt struggles to salvage a 2-2 draw, while Mozambique and Ghana lost 2-1 to Cape Verde, the smallest of the 24 teams here, which subsequently led to a furious try supporters led to attack Ghana coach Chris Hughton in the team hotel.
Ghana’s defeat means they have won once in their last 10 Afcon games and the Black Stars will be desperate to avoid a repeat of their first-round exit from the 2022 tournament, which ended in a humiliating defeat to Comoros.
With a record of four wins in 11 games since taking over against Ghana last February, Hughton is under enormous pressure to get a result against Egypt. He is expected to be released after the tournament unless there is a major turnaround.
Egypt is in a slightly better position after the draw. Salah remains the talisman but he struggled with the humidity against Mozambique. “The weather in Africa is different; The humidity is high and the concentration drops,” he said. “The best thing is that we learn early so that we know our mistakes before the decisive rounds, such as the quarterfinals or the round of 16.”
The North African team reached the final last time but wasn’t at their best there and there are serious concerns that head coach Rui Vitória, one of the highest earners here on his $2.4 million salary, won’t gets the best of a talented squad that also includes former Premier League players Trézéguet and Ahmed Hegazi.
It’s a huge game. Accompany me.
Begin: 8:00 p.m. GMT (also in Abidjan).
