Two of Africa’s best strikers, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, will be on opposite sides tomorrow to decide the winner of the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroun.
No doubt, this final, which holds at Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, will have the distinctly Red flavour of English Premier League side, Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah, who was recently shortlisted by FIFA as one of the best three footballers in the globe, powered The Pharaohs of Egypt to the final on Thursday night, beating hosts, Cameroun, 3-1 on penalties. The victory set up a clash with Sadio Mane’s Teranga Lions of Senegal, who, on Wednesday, brushed aside Stallions of Burkina Faso with the same scoreline.
Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, whose comments on the Africa Cup of Nations sparked some controversy in the build up to the tournament, was quoted yesterday as saying that he is looking forward to welcoming back the duo of Salah and Mane ‘even if they won’t return together.’
Tomorrow’s AFCON final in Cameroun is the first of two big clashes between the Liverpool teammates. They will also be involved for their countries in the Qatar 2022 World Cup playoff next month.
For Mane, whose team lost to another North African country, Algeria, in the final three years ago when Egypt hosted the 32nd edition of the tournament, said there is no hiding place for Mohamed Salah and ‘his gang.’
Mane stated that though he respects The Pharaohs, but they can’t prevent the Teranga Lions from winning the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations title.
Mane is of the opinion that “experience is a good asset” for the Teranga Lions.
“We had a very difficult time but with our experience, we kept calm until we recovered the whole group,” Mane said while responding to questions from journalists.
He continued: “We played a final last time, so we have experience and we will try to win this trophy. There are many leaders in this team because we have a lot of great players and a lot of mature players. Everyone is making a contribution so that the team can move forward.”
For Mohamed Salah, victory tomorrow is needed as pay back for their fans, who stood with them despite losing out in the Round of 16 when Egypt hosted the tournament in 2019.