Salah’s Afcon dream is over

– The injured Mohamed Salah will not get the chance to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after his Egypt side were knocked out of the competition on Sunday in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Guinea progressed to the last-eight.

Record seven-time champions Egypt lost 8-7 on penalties against the Congolese after their last-16 tie ended 1-1 at the end of extra time.

Meschack Elia put DR Congo ahead in the Ivorian coastal city of San-Pedro in the 37th minute, only for Mostafa Mohamed to equalise for Egypt from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time.

With no further scoring, Egypt held on for a shoot-out after having Mohamed Hamdy sent off for a second booking in the first-half of extra time.

They were involved in three shoot-outs in four knockout ties at the last Cup of Nations in Cameroon two years ago, when they lost the final on penalties to Senegal.

Mohamed missed the target with the Pharaohs’ second kick, but Arthur Masuaku then squandered the Leopards’ next attempt.

Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal, better known simply as Gabaski, then put Egypt’s ninth penalty over, and Congolese ‘keeper Lionel Mpasi made no mistake to take DR Congo through to the quarterfinals.

It is a bitter pill for the Egyptians, who had come to Ivory Coast hoping to win a first Cup of Nations since 2010, a year before Salah made his senior international debut.

But they stumbled out of their group with three draws, and lost the Liverpool superstar to a hamstring injury in their second game against Ghana.

He had gone back to his club to continue treatment, in the hope of being able to return for the latter stages of the competition, but now his dream of winning the title remains on hold.

Meanwhile, it is the first time DR Congo have won a knockout tie at the tournament since reaching the semifinals in 2015.

“We practised penalties a lot in training and I knew I would need to be ready,” Mpasi, the former Paris Saint-Germain youngster now playing for Rodez in the French second-tier, told broadcaster Canal Plus Afrique.

“When I saw Gabaski shoot, we were looking each other in the eyes and I could see he looked a bit nervous.

“When I put the ball on the spot I just tried to stay calm.

I thought about the last penalty I took in training and luckily it went well.” –