Mohamed Salah's last-gasp penalty saved Egypt from a potential nightmare against minnows Mozambique to rescue a point in their dramatic Africa Cup of Nations opener.
Mozambique, ranked 111th in the world, have never won an AFCON game in their history, while Egypt boast the record for most wins in the tournament. For so long it looked like Mozambique would hold on for one of the most remarkable victories in the competition's history, but a Salah penalty in second-half stoppage time meant the spoils were shared.
The Pharaohs went ahead in their first game inside two minutes, with Salah setting up Mostafa Mohamed to fire them in front. However, the second half saw a different Mozambique emerge and after two goals inside three minutes, the game was flipped on its head just before the hour mark.
There was to be one final twist when Salah stepped up from the penalty spot deep in the 97th minute to rescue a point for his country. His effort struck the post before eventually finding the net.
While Egypt will be glad to have had their blushes spared, a draw is still a disappointing result for a side that harbour ambitions of winning the entire tournament. The result may well be music to the ears of Jurgen Klopp, given the Liverpool boss openly admitted he wants his star players back from international duty as soon as possible.
The longer Salah is in the Ivory Coast with Egypt, the longer Liverpool have to keep their title hopes alive without their main man. The Anfield ace cut a desperately disappointed figure at full-time, but Klopp will have a smile on his face given it increases the chance of his star forward coming home sooner.
Before the tournament, the Reds boss made little secret of his hopes for both AFCON and the Asia Cup,
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