Salah, Haller to lock horns as the heavyweights clash

Ivory Coast is set to play against Egypt on Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations last-16 tie as the two of the continent’s heavyweight teams who have plenty of history as well as two of the most exciting attacking players in the world look forward to battle for the quarter-finals. Liverpool’s forward Mohamed Salah is set to lead an Egypt side aiming at adding their record haul of seven AFCON titles, while the Ivorian’s with Sebastien Haller leading the line ready to battle for a third crown.

If the tragic events that claimed the lives of at least 8 people among the other 40 being reported injured are something to go by, then not everyone in Cameroon will have the appetite for the competition to continue. However, there will be a big, expectant crowd at the Japoma Stadium in economic capital Douala, where the majority of supporters will likely be backing the Elephants.

     Japoma Stadium to host Wednesday AFCON match between Ivory Coast vs Egypt. Photo/courtesy

Ivorians must find a way of stopping Salah without neglecting the rest of Carlos Queiroz’s team, even if Egypt hardly set the tournament alight in the group stage, losing 1-0 to Nigeria before beating Guinea-Bissau and Sudan by the same scoreline. The current squad has the best player Egypt has produced, one of the best players in the world, in Mohamed Salah, but it has nothing like the same depth of quality. Progress through World Cup qualifying they face Senegal in a play-off in March has been functional.

Egypt won 4-1, a crushing victory over the Ivorian golden generation. That was a brilliant side, defensively ruthless with creative midfielders, among Ahmed Hassan, Mohamed Aboutreika, Osama Hosny and in each competition a striker who hit form at the right time. They were also mentally tough; the victory in Ghana in 2008 was the first time a North African side had won a Cup of Nations in sub-Saharan Africa, a feat they repeated in Angola two years later.

 Liverpool’s forward Mohamed Salah trains ahead of the AFCON match against Ivory Coast. Photo/courtesy

For obvious reasons, everyone’s focus will be on Mohamed Salah and Haller, even if each has only scored once so far in Cameroon and the Liverpool forward has 54 goals for his club since the start of last season, including seven this campaign in the UEFA Champions League. Salah has won the Premier League and Champions League in recent years but is desperate for international glory with his country. His Champions League tally this season has been bettered only by Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, with nine, and by Ajax striker Haller, who netted 10 times in the group stage and became just the second player to score in all six group games, following Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017.

But as he has always played for Egypt for a decade and is at his third Cup of Nations, this is French-born Haller’s first major international tournament. As the teams target a place in the quarterfinals and a tie against Morocco, history is certainly on Egypt’s side. Egypt notably beat the Elephants on the way to winning the trophy in 1986, and then won on penalties in 2006 final in Cairo, with Didier Drogba one of those to miss from the spot. Pharaohs won 4-1 the last time they met but expect them to be cautious against opponents with a strong midfield.