Superstar Salah seeks first goal at Cup of Nations in Egypt
Superstar Mohamed Salah gets a second chance to score his first goal at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations when hosts Egypt face the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group A on Wednesday.
The recent Champions League winner with Liverpool was unable to convert several chances against Zimbabwe last Friday as Egypt won 1-0 in the opening match of the tournament. “Mohamed Salah was among those who missed chances, but I was satisfied with our performance,” admitted Mexican coach Javier Aguirre.
Victory over the Congolese, who performed poorly when losing 2-0 to Uganda, could clinch a last-16 place for the Egyptians with one match to spare.
Here, AFP Sport previews the Group A doubleheader with Uganda playing Zimbabwe in the first match in Cairo, and the Group B showdown between Nigeria and Guinea in Alexandria.
Egypt v DR Congo = After four days of small crowds, a capacity 75,000 crowd is expected in Cairo to cheer Egypt as they seek a third win in four Cup of Nations meetings with the DR Congo.
There will be contrasting pressures on the teams with the Pharaohs eyeing a secondround place and the Leopards fighting for survival after a horror first outing.
“We must learn to handle the pressure of being among the favourites in order to realise our goal of becoming African champions,” said Aguirre.
DR Congo came to Egypt as one of the most unpredictable qualifiers having finished third in 2015 only to make a timid quarter-final exit two years ago.
“We let our country down against Uganda,” confessed captain Youssouf Mulumbu. “It was a bitter lesson for us and we plan to correct the situation quickly.” Uganda v Zimbabwe = Having won a Cup of Nations match for the first time in 41 years, Uganda coach Sebastien Desabre has warned his Cranes against overconfidence when they confront Zimbabwe.
“It was wonderful to win after such a long time, but we must keep our feet on the ground and remain humble and focused,” warned the Frenchman.
“I was very impressed by Zimbabwe against Egypt and nothing less than a top-class performance from us will deliver three more points.”
-AFP