The injured Mohamed Salah watched from the stands as Egypt performed out a loopy 2-2 draw with Cape Verde on the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, a 3rd successive impasse that was sufficient to seal a spot within the final 16.
Cape Verde had already secured high spot in Group B and had been on track to make it three wins from as many video games when Gilson Tavares Benchimol put them forward simply earlier than half-time on the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.
However substitute Mahmoud Trezeguet equalized 5 minutes after the restart and Mostafa Mohamed scored an excellent injury-time purpose for Egypt, which was confirmed after a VAR test dominated out a handball.
It was not the winner, as Bryan Teixeira scored Cape Verde's second purpose 9 minutes into additional time.
However by that stage the opposite Group B match had ended, and Ghana's 2-2 draw towards Mozambique allowed Egypt to complete second with simply three factors.
Egypt, the document seven-time African champions who haven’t gained the title since 2010, now journey to San-Pedro on Sunday for a last-16 tie.
Nonetheless, Salah will miss that match and there are doubts whether or not the Egypt captain can be seen once more in Ivory Coast.
The Egyptian Soccer Affiliation introduced on Sunday that he would return to Liverpool after this match to proceed therapy for the hamstring damage he suffered within the 2-2 draw towards Ghana final Thursday.
They mentioned he would return to the squad for the semi-finals if Egypt made it that far, however the participant's agent forged doubt on that risk on Monday.
“Mohamed's damage is extra critical than initially thought and he can be out for 21 to twenty-eight days, not two video games,” Ramy Abbas Issa wrote on X.
“His finest likelihood of competing within the present AFCON is to bear intensive rehabilitation in Nice Britain and rejoin the group as quickly as he’s match.”
Egypt's probabilities of progressing from their group appeared bleak when Cape Verde went in entrance simply earlier than half-time when Ryan Mendes nodded the ball down for Benfica B group striker Benchimol to manage, flip and shoot.
Trabzonspor winger Trezeguet got here on as a part of a double substitution early within the second half as Egypt chased the match, simply as they’d performed of their two earlier group matches.
He wanted simply 5 minutes to seek out the equalizer, profitable possession after a nook and exchanging passes with Ahmed Hegazy earlier than beating the goalkeeper from a troublesome angle.
Mohamed then appeared to have gained the victory three minutes into stoppage time when he managed Trezeguet's lengthy ball ahead and beat Cape Verdean goalkeeper Vozinha with an excellent lob.
The referee needed to test the VAR monitor to ensure he had not managed the ball together with his arm and that the purpose had been awarded.
Nonetheless, Teixeira then drove in to make it 2–2 as Cape Verde completed the group unbeaten earlier than switching their focus to a last-16 attract Abidjan on 29 January.
AFP
