Profligate Egypt Knocked Out by BafanaBafana

Justin Ehiogu

A wasteful performance cost the northerners an AFCON quarterfinal ticket in their own homeland, as Mo Salah bows head in disappointment.

Egypt’s and Liverpool’s poster boy left the pitch yesterday desiring a lot more, after seeing his side squander so many chances against a resolute South African side. The hosts threw away two good chances on either side of the break, and have none to blame but themselves for a shoddy performance in front of goal.

Their first solid chance came through a clearance turned into a counter attack. The ball was purposely cleared by the Egyptian defence into the middle of the park where Salah was waiting. The speedster drove the ball to the South African 18-yard box in a three-on-three situation, but his pass out to the right to teammateTrezeguet was sorely wasted by the latter. In the second half, Salah again created a sublime chance by driving the ball in from the right flank and then playing a perfectly weighted, inch-perfect pass into the front of the six-yard box. But again, Trezeguet turned a classic finish into a harmless back pass to the goalkeeper.

South Africa, who had had a few dangerous half-chances in the game, created a golden one in the 85th minute and Orlando Pirates striker, ThembinkosiLorch taught the northerners how to score with an elegant finish which sent the home crowd into tears. Minutes later, the southerners were rejoicing while Mo Salah and his compatriots were left on the turf, teaching us all a lesson against profligacy.

The BafanaBafana will face Nigeria in the quarterfinals on Wednesday