Egypt were the first to stamp their passport to the final of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations Mozambique 2022, after beating the colossus Morocco by 5-4 today in Vilankulo Arena.
The Pharaohs will try to win the title after many years of bronze medals. Egypt’s opponent will emerge from the Mozambique-Senegal match.
The Pharaohs had a tough time qualifying for the semi-finals as they finished the group stage with 4 points, as they only gained a point after beating Madagascar on penalty kicks (4-3) after a four-all draw and this Monday they beat Uganda 6-2.
It was not by chance that the Senegalese Oumar Sylla, former coach of the Lions of Teranga, was a good bet for the Moroccans to lead their team in the coming years. The experience of this coach came immediately to the fore, proving to have studied his opponent in detail.
The Egyptian Pharaohs were cornered in the first minutes, unable to manage the onslaughts of the Moroccans, who scored thanks to top scorer Anouar Frindi in the first period.
Egypt equalised in the second period through Hossam Hassan, the oldest and most experienced player in the team, who scored his second goal in the last minute of the second period. It was an electrifying match. Morocco were stuck in a maze of ideas and had no alternatives to turn the situation around.
Morocco’s Mat striker Anouar Frindi, inspired and on the front foot, scored Egypt’s third and fourth goals (4-3), all from solo runs. The duel between the heavyweights of the North African arch-rivals intensified.
It didn’t take long for the equaliser to come, as Ismaeel Abdelkodos got in the way of the goal to make it 4-4. Things got even more complicated for Morocco, who saw their goal breached by Ahmed Mohamed with a treacherous shot that deceived goalkeeper Ismail El Ouariry. The score was 5-4. The first AFCON finalist and African representative to the FIFA World Cup was found.
What they said
Moustafa Zeidan Lofty, Egypt coach
“We are happy. We won again, we prepared this long, and we feel satisfied for this result. This is bet soccer if you are like, you will win. We know Morocco very well this gave us a certain advantage, we are happy. Let’s rest and then we’ll think about the final.”
Oumar Sylla, Morocco coach
“First of all, we thank God we played a heroic game. It doesn’t make sense we lost. It is a derby; it is always hot when we face an Arabic country. But I think if we were calmer, we could have won the game. We led 2-0, they came back, they did a lot of efforts. “
Source: Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF)