By Bakah Derick
Egypt grabbed the third semi finals ticket for the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Cameroon 2021 on Sunday 30 January 2022 in Yaounde after beating fellow North Africans Morocco 2-1.
Sofiane Boufal for the Atlas Lions opened scores from the penalty spot just six minutes into the game and managed the lead till the end of first half.
The Pharoahs scored eight minutes into the second half via striker Mohamed Salah to draw level. The tension packed fixture played to prolongation with both fighting hard to secure a spot in the Semis. Mo Salah then paired perfectly with second half substitute Trezeguet to get a winner at the 100th minute.
Egypt's win sets up a meeting with host Cameroon and pushes the Moroccans on the side as they were hoping to play their second semi final since 1988.
The Teranga Lions of Senegal grabbed the fourth and last ticket thrashing one of the tournament's revelation Equatorial Guinea 3-1.
The Senegalese scored first via F. Diedhiou at the 28th minute after a clinical pass from Sadio Mané. Returning from the break one goal down, Equatorial Guinea got the equaliser via J. Buyla 12minutes into the second half. C. Koyaté and Ismala Saar's 68th and 79th goal spoiled the feast for the Guineans who have so far recorded unexpected result including the elimination of Mali at the eighth finals.
Before Senegal ended the road for Equatorial Guinea, both sides were in search for their first AFCON title. Finishing as runners up twice in 2002 and 2019, Senegal will be facing Burkina Faso that also hopes to clinch the first AFCON title.
With their respective wins, Egypt and Senegal thus completes the semi final pairings with one between the continent's top title holders and another for those in search for first AFCON glory.
Egypt are seven time winners and will take on host Cameroon with five titles. Senegal and Burkina Faso are still in search for a title.
Wednesday 2 February 2022: Match No 49 Burkina Faso vs Senegal
Thursday 3 February 2022: Match No 50 Cameroon vs Egypt