Heartbreak for Egypt after Afcon final defeat brings fairy-tale run to tearful finale

Senegal's victory in penalty shootout denies Pharaohs record-externding eighth title

Senegal's Sadio Mane celebrates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations after a penalty shoot-out against Egypt at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde on Sunday, February 6, 2022. Reuters

Senegal players celebrate after winning the Africa Cup of Nations. Reuters

Egypt's Mohamed Salah looks dejected after losing the Africa Cup of Nations final. Reuters

Senegal's goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (C) celebrates with teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2021 final football match between Senegal and Egypt at Stade d'Olembe in Yaounde on February 6, 2022. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

Egypt's Mohamed Elneny in tears after the final. Reuters

Egypt's goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal during a penalty shoot-out. AFP

Senegal's supporters cheer at the end of the Africa Cup of Nations final. AFP

Senegal's Idrissa Gana Gueye and Sadio Mane celebrate after winning the penalty shoot-out in the Afcon final against Egypt. Reuters

Senegal players celebrate winning the Africa Cup of Nations after a penalty shoot-out in the final against Egypt at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde on Sunday, February 6, 2022. Reuters

Senegal's forward Sadio Mane, left, Egypt's forward Mohamed Salah and goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal speak before a penalty kick during the Africa Cup of Nations final. AFP

Egypt's goalkeeper Mohamed Abogabal stops a shot by Senegal's Sadio Mane during the Africa Cup of Nations final in Yaounde. AFP

Mohamed Salah during the Afcon final against Senegal at Stade d'Olembe in Yaounde. AFP

Egypt supporters in Yaounde on Sunday. AFP

Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly, left, challenges Egypt's Mohamed Salah in Yaounde. AP

Senegal's Idrissa Gana Gueye shoots at goal from a free kick. Reuters

Senegal's head coach Aliou Cisse during the Africa Cup of Nations final. AFP

The Pharaohs’ fairy-tale run in the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon has ended in tears and heartbreak. Back at home, their loss to Senegal in Sunday night’s final left a nation in a state of grief yet tinged with pride and hope.

The match in the capital Yaounde was settled in a penalty shoot-out after the two sides were locked at 0-0 after extra time. Senegal won the shoot-out 4-2, with Liverpool forward Sadio Mane scoring the winner to make amends for his miss from the spot early in the first half.

For the Pharaohs, led by Mane’s Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah, a win would have secured a record-extending eighth title in Africa’s marquee tournament. They last won the trophy in 2010 and made it to the final in 2017 when they lost to Cameroon. South Africa eliminated them in 2019 in the last-16.

Currently Africa’s top-ranked side, Senegal had remarkably never won the coveted trophy until Sunday, having reached the final twice before, including a loss to Algeria in Cairo in 2019.

Egypt and Senegal are to meet again in March in a World Cup, qualifying play-off that will send the winner to Qatar later this year.

While Senegal wildly celebrated Sunday’s win, many of the Pharaohs cried, with television images of their grief-stricken faces deepening the sense of loss felt by the millions who watched at home, cafes and tea houses.

A bustling Nile-side city of more than 20 million, Cairo was left eerily quiet after the loss. That unusual atmosphere in a city with a reputation that it never sleeps contrasted with the buzz that had filled its streets since the Pharaohs defeated hosts Cameroon in Thursday’s semi-final.

Afcon final player ratings

Anticipating a victory, street hawkers sold tens of thousands of Egyptian flags in the days before the final. New songs praising the Pharaohs were hurriedly composed and posted online. Pundits spoke endlessly about the Pharaohs’ chances on sports TV talk shows.

“You’ve done what you could and you won the respect of everyone. You have lived up to our expectations and honoured your nation.,” President Abdel Fattah El Sisi wrote on Facebook in a bid to lift the morale of the team and the nation.

“All of us are confident that you will make up for the loss of the title and make Egyptians happy by qualifying for the World Cup.”

His words are not empty rhetoric.

The Pharaohs made an astonishing comeback from their dismal showing in the group stage to send home some of the continent’s giants in the knockout stage, disposing of the Ivory Coast, Morocco and hosts Cameroon to reach the final.

Plagued by injuries and suspensions — including that of manager Carlos Queiroz who was banned from the dugout on Sunday — the Pharaohs played Senegal after three consecutive extra-time matches in the knockout stage, meaning they played 90 more minutes than their opponents, who also had an extra recovery day.

“The national squad did something no one in Egypt had expected,” said football analyst Hassan El Mistekawi. “Every player gave as much as he could both physically and tactically. Each one of them fought to make the fans happy.”

But the physical exertion of three, 120-minute matches, explained commentator Sabry Sirag, may have shown in Sunday’s clash against a better organised and physically tough Senegal whose journey to the final was much smoother.

“It was difficult for us to be physically ready after those three matches,” said Sirag “They were physically superior but our tactics were definitely better than theirs. Their side is packed with individual talent, but we as a team were better.”

But there’s a silver lining in the Pharaohs’ title-less run in Cameroon that could prove beneficial in the years to come. That’s the unlikely rise to stardom by several squad members who had lived in the shadow of more seasoned starters.

Foremost among those was goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal — also known as Gabaski — who made his first appearance in the 24-nation tournament when Mohamed El Shennawy, arguably Africa’s best goalie, pulled a muscle in the last-16 match against the Ivory Coast and left.

Gabaski, 33, has pulled off a string of spectacular saves since, saving twice in the penalty shoot-out against Cameroon and once in Sunday’s shoot-out in addition to Mane’s penalty earlier in the match.

But his meteoric rise to stardom — he won the final’s Man of the Match Award — he could not conceal his grief or hold back tears after Sunday’s loss.

“The loss put us in a very difficult place,” a distraught Gabaski told the post-match news conference. “But we, as Egyptians, don’t know how to stay down when we fall.”