Few hours to the kick off of AFCON 2021 final between North African side Egypt and West African side Senegal, has had not just Patriots, but fans and supporters from all over the world jiggled as they wait to see who would triumph after the final whistle.
The Pharoahs of Egypt led by Liverpool’s forward Mo Salah came into the tournament with a thirst for glory after their failed attempt to win the cup since Angola 2010 when they defeated the blackstars of Ghana.
Although they lost their opening group stage game to the Super Eagles of Nigeria, they had picked themselves up and learnt from their mistake, winning every other game, even beating the hosts Cameroon in a penalty shootout.
Senegal on the other hand lead by Napoli’s center back Kalidou Koulibaly have proven that they are in to lift the trophy after failing to lift it in Egypt 2019, losing it to Algeria by a 1-0 score line. Liverpool’s star man and forward Mane has been a very vital player for the Senegal team, scoring and setting up team mates for goals. Mane is now the highest goal scorer for Senegal in the Afcon tournament, having registered eight goals to his name since he first appeared in the tournament.
This would be the first time in the history of Afcon that Egypt and Senegal will face each other in the final. When asked about the final, Liverpool’s coach said…
“Great achievement for both getting through to the final,”
“Naby [Keita of Guinea] played an exceptional tournament as well. So far, a really successful tournament for our boys and it will be exciting. “It won’t be easy because one will be really happy afterwards and one less so. It’s a chance to achieve something really big.”
No matter what the results brings after 8:pm, they’d Mane and Salah would bought return to Anifield, one as an Afcon champion and the other as a runner up.
From the total Afcon official page on Twitter, fans have predicted that Egypt would go ahead of Senegal to win the trophy. However, Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has stated they are on their way to winning the Africa Cup of Nations title when they come up against Egypt at Olembe Stadium on Sunday.
Senegal skippo, Kalidou Koulibaly has promised to offer the trophy to the Senegalese people, as they have appeared in the tournament for sixteen times but have failed to win it, having been in the final twice, one in 2002 and the most recent in 2019.
Possible Egypt line up: Sobhy; Kamal, Trezeguet, Hamdi, Fatouh; Ashraf, El-Sulya, Elneny; Mohamed, Marmoush, Mo. Salah.
Possible Senegal line up: E Mendy; Sarr, Koulibaly, A Diallo, Ciss; Kouyate, N Mendy, I Gueye; Mane, Dieng, Dia.
