WCQ: Senegal Through, As Mane Wins His Battle Against Salah Again

The remake of the AFCON 2022 final turned again in favor of Senegal who snatched their ticket for Qatar.

Senegal qualified for the World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday after defeating Egypt 3-1 on penalties, with the tie ending one – all in regular time.

Sadio Mane will be in Qatar, not Mohamed Salah. The Teranga Lions will be playing their third World Cup in November after 2002 and 2018. At the end of a penalty shootouts which “Mo” Salah missed the his, it was his Liverpool teammate — Sadio Mane who scored the winning penalty for Senegal.

In the first leg, Egypt had taken the lead (1-0). Salah was directly linked to the goal as it was his shot that ricochet on Saliou Ciss and went in for an own goal.

But on Tuesday, at the Abdoulaye-Wade stadium, in Diamniadio, In the very first minutes of the match, Boulaye Dia brought the tie level following a free kick from Idrissa Gueye 1-0 at the 4th minute.

Carried by their impressive public who supported using lasers, Aliou Cissé’s men further created multiple chances.

In that time, Ismaïla Sarr missed two golden opportunities saved by Mohamed El-Shenawy at the 28th and 32nd minutes. Another from Nampalys Mendy (42nd) stared the the left post, before going wide.

With less chances created, the Egyptians waited for the second period to be more enterprising. The Pharaohs could have calmed the atmosphere if Zizo’s header and then his shot at the 70th and 75th minutes had gone in.

Sarr was likely to be the scorer for Senegal. It wasn’t however meant to be. Set free against the goalkeeper, Sarr missed a seater at the 82nd minute.

In extra time, it was Mohamed El-Shenawy who saved Egypt a couple of times, with save after save.

Just Sulaya converted his penalty for Egypt, while Salah, Zizo and Mustapha Mohammed missed theirs. Mane, Sarr and Dieng converted for Senegal after initial misses from Koulibaly and Ciss.