Mohamed Salah has scored as 10-man Egypt have beaten South Africa 1-0 in Agadir to become the first qualifiers for the knockout stage of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n
The Liverpool star converted a penalty on 45 minutes on Friday, and South Africa were denied a spot kick late in the second half when Yasser Ibrahim appeared to handle the ball inside the box.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Salah came to Morocco after not starting in five Liverpool matches and his omission leading to an outburst against manager Arne Slot.<\/p>\n Egypt were reduced to 10 men in first-half added time when right back Mohamed Hany was shown a second yellow card for a stamp, followed by a red.<\/p>\n After two rounds in Group B, record seven-time champions Egypt have six points and are guaranteed a top-two finish in the group stage and a place in the round of 16.<\/p>\n South Africa have three points and Angola and Zimbabwe one each after they drew 1-1 in Marrakesh earlier on Friday.<\/p>\n The first chance fell to Salah after 11 minutes, but he could not move forward quickly enough to connect with a low cross from Hany.<\/p>\n That the majority of the crowd were supporting the Pharaohs became obvious soon after when the Burundi referee ignored Zizo\u2019s appeals for a free kick and loud whistling enveloped the stadium.<\/p>\n When Salah delivered a free kick into the heart of the South African area, three Egyptians darted forward, but none could connect with the ball.<\/p>\n Midway through the opening half, a pattern had developed. Egypt were pushing forward regularly while South Africa defended with calmness and solid tackling.<\/p>\n When South Africa\u2019s Teboho Mokoena fouled Omar Marmoush just outside the D, he was yellow-carded. However, the Manchester City striker fired the resultant free kick wide.<\/p>\n As the first half progressed, the sun broke out in the southern coastal city \u2013 a welcome sight for players and spectators with many earlier group matches staged in torrential rain.<\/p>\n A rare South Africa attack ended disappointingly as Lyle Foster struck a weak shot that was comfortably saved by 37-year-old Mohamed El Shenawy.<\/p>\n Awarded a free kick close to the touchline, South Africa performed an intricate, multipass move that ended tamely as El Shenawy clutched a cross.<\/p>\n Salah was being closely policed by Aubrey Modiba, and as half-time drew near, the Liverpool star retreated into the Egyptian half to retain possession.<\/p>\n Then, as the Egypt captain chased a loose ball with Khuliso Mudau, the South African right back raised his left arm, striking Salah\u2019s left eye.<\/p>\n Amid Egyptian protests, the Burundian referee viewed the incident on a VAR monitor and pointed to the penalty spot.<\/p>\n A lengthy delay before the kick was taken could not have eased the nerves of Salah, but he comfortably converted the penalty as Ronwen Williams dived in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n More drama erupted in added time when Hany stamped on Mokoena, leading to a second yellow card for the defender.<\/p>\n South Africa, with a numerical advantage, attacked more as the second half progressed, but Egypt came close to a second goal with Williams foiling substitute Emam Ashour after a quick free kick.<\/p>\n El Shenawy displayed his agility with 15 minutes remaining, using his right hand to tip to safety a low shot from Foster. It was one of several saves that kept Egypt ahead.<\/p>\n Veteran Knowledge Musona scored as Zimbabwe came from behind to draw 1-1 with Angola in Marrakesh to kick off the second round of AFCON matches earlier in the day.<\/p>\n Gelson Dala put Angola ahead midway through the first half, and recalled Musona levelled deep in first-half added time.<\/p>\n A draw in Group B suited neither team, leaving both two points adrift of joint leaders Egypt and South Africa after having played one match more.<\/p>\n Only the top two finishers in each group automatically qualify for the knockout phase. The best four third-placed teams from the six mini-leagues also will advance.<\/p>\n Bill Antonio wasted a good chance to give Zimbabwe an early lead when he blazed wide from close range before a small crowd.<\/p>\n Angola recovered quickly to establish control and took the lead after 24 minutes through Qatar-based striker Dala.<\/p>\n A superb lobbed pass from To Carneiro dropped in front of Dala inside the box, and he squeezed the ball between the near post and 40-year-old goalkeeper Washington Arubi.<\/p>\n Musona, one of four changes to the Zimbabwe lineup after a 2-1 loss to Egypt in Agadir four days earlier, became increasingly involved as the Warriors sought an equaliser.<\/p>\n Musona wasted a free kick opportunity by hitting the ball into the defensive wall, then shot wide, much to the frustration of Romanian coach Marian Marinica, who repeatedly shook his head.<\/p>\n Hugo Marques, the 39-year-old Angola goalkeeper, had his head heavily bandaged before continuing after a collision with an opponent.<\/p>\n The perseverance of Musona finally paid off six minutes into added time at the end of the opening half when he equalised.<\/p>\n After Angola were dispossessed in midfield, Zimbabwe counterattacked swiftly, and a superb pass found Musona inside the box.<\/p>\n He struck a slow shot between the legs of Carneiro and just wide of the outstretched right leg of Marques into the net.<\/p>\n As both sides sought a second goal and the lead, Marques rescued Angola 12 minutes from the end of regular time with an acrobatic one-hand save of an attempt by substitute Tawanda Chirewa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mohamed Salah has scored as 10-man Egypt have beaten South Africa 1-0 in Agadir to become the first qualifiers for the knockout stage of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The Liverpool star converted a penalty on 45 minutes on Friday, and South Africa were denied a spot kick late in the second half when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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Angola and Zimbabwe keep alive AFCON hopes<\/h2>\n
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