Mohamed Salah rescues Egypt but Liverpool get boost amid shock scenes for Mozambique at AFCON
Mohamed Salah put his penalty woes aside to hold his nerve and rescue a 2-2 draw for Egypt against Mozambique in their opening game at the African Cup of Nations.
Seven-time winners Egypt were expected to ease to victory in their opener in the Ivory Coast when they faced Mozambique, who never won a game at AFCON.
And that record looked set to continue when Salah's miss-kick ran through to Mostafa Mohamed to score for Egypt inside two minutes.
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However, Rui Vitoria's side failed to build on their lead and were left stunned when Mozambique scored twice in three shocking second half minutes. First Witiness Quembo equalised in the 55th minute before Clesio Baque scored just three minutes later.
But Egypt were handed a penalty in the fifth minute of time added on after the referee was sent to the monitor, which the Liverpool star converted. It meant relief for Egypt but they will remain frustrated with their inability to beat a side ranked 111th in the world by FIFA.
Salah had previously benefited from a huge stroke of luck in Egypt's warm-up match against Tanzania when his penalty hit the crossbar, only to rebound off the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Salah had previously missed and scored from the spot against Newcastle.
Salah's side, who were tipped as one of the favourites to win the tournament, will next take on Ghana on Thursday, January 18th before rounding off the group against Cape Verde on Monday, January 23rd.
The result represents a minor boost for LIverpool, with Egypt making a more difficult start to the group than expected.
Should they fail to
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