YAOUNDE — Given that much of the worldwide focus of Sunday’s Afcon final will be on the similarities between two players sourced from the same Liverpool frontline, it is worth dwelling on what makes Egypt and Senegal so different.
This is a tale of opposites: Africa’s most decorated national side against its most famous trophyless team; two countries at the north east and south west edges of the vast Sahara; a squad that contains 22 home-based players facing a squad that contains none.
Their routes to the final are contrasting too. Senegal began this tournament sluggish in attack with Sadio Mane struggling to make a difference, but scored six times in their quarter-final and semi-final victories.
Egypt have somehow managed to become more gnarled than ever before. They have scored four times in 630 tournament minutes and have played three periods of extra-time and two penalty shootouts. They’re here for a long time, not to provide a good time.
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If that might suggest some sympathy or goodwill for Egypt, they have extinguished it emphatically over the last week. The line between dark arts and cheating is both blurred and shifts according to the eyes of the beholder, but most can agree that Egypt have pushed the envelope. In their semi-final against Cameroon, one of their players fell to the turf in agony on no less than 13 occasions. And yet when they are the ones penalised for fouls, it causes an emotional explosion.
All of which creates a remarkable scenario for the final in which neither Egypt manager Carlos Quieroz nor his assistant Roger de Sa will be on the touchline after receiving bans for their histrionic behaviour. Quieroz continued his complaints after the game, insisting that referee Bakary Gassama had insufficient experience or expertise to officiate at Afcon. Gassama refereed at the last World Cup and is probably the best on the continent.
For all the brilliance of Mohamed Salah, it is this deliberate victim complex that is Egypt’s greatest weapon. In their post-match press conference on Thursday, assistant coach Diaa El-Sayed bemoaned the state of the pitches, state of the refereeing and the state of the tournament’s scheduling. He accused CAF of “not caring about Egypt” and repeatedly referenced the manner in which the group had suffered in this tournament. It is basic psychology: adversity breeds determination, even if you manufacture it.
How to watch Afcon 2022 final
- Date: Sunday 6 February
- Time: 7pm
- TV: BBC Three/Sky Sports Main Event
- Live stream: iPlayer/SkyGo/NOW
It is impossible to escape the two poster boys of this final. Their faces adorn every television advert for it and will litter every preview. Salah and Mane have occupied the top two places in the last three African Player of the Year award ceremonies. The 2020 and 2021 editions were both cancelled due to Covid-19; that probably stopped Salah winning it four times in five years.
These players matter to African football. It is rare for a north African player to resonate on an emotional level in sub-Saharan Africa, but Salah’s extraordinary success has created an exception. In Cameroon, attendances at Egypt’s matches have been boosted by those coming to see one player. A surge of electricity passes around the ground when he picks the ball up in space. The same is true of Mane, albeit more predictably. The rest of Africa tends to stick together against those who hog the continent’s north coast.
And yet the irony of these two world-class attackers in these two teams in this final is that Senegal and Egypt’s strength lies in their defences. They achieve it in two different ways, to continue that theme: Senegal aim to restrict shots (45 in total and nine on target in six matches) while Egypt allow shots but back their goalkeepers to save them (22 saves made by Egyptian goalkeepers vs seven for Edouard Mendy).
They are also unalike in formulation and style: Senegal’s defence is largely sourced from elite European clubs while Egypt’s in the final will all play their football in their homeland; Senegal look to dissipate pressure through proactive control (they rank low for tackles and interceptions) while Egypt are all-action defensively, a loyal band of headers, clearers and tacklers. But both have worked superbly in Cameroon.
That is not to say that Salah and Mane will not be crucial; quite the opposite. They will be difference-makers, the lock-pickers who will hope to either excel as potent threats or create space for others through their latent danger. It would be no surprise if Sunday’s final was decided by a moment of impudence from one or the other and every media outlet would rejoice at the perfect ending.
These two countries have history: Egypt’s 2006 Afcon final win over Senegal came with controversy after a ludicrous penalty non-award in the game’s final moments. They have an immediate future too: a World Cup 2022 two-legged playoff to decide which of them heads to Qatar. For now, the only focus is on the momentous present, where two friends, two teammates and two pillars of African sport meet, both tasked with supplying the force that forms cracks in immovable objects.
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