Liverpool stars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have progressed to the next round of the AFCON. If all goes well, we could see the two face each other in the final.
Mane and Salah have been central to all of Liverpool’s success in recent times, but both are still yet to win something big with their national teams. Both are desperate for the chance to win something with their countries. However, the chance to do just that has arrived for them.
Both Senegal and Egypt have qualified for the quarter-finals of the AFCON. While Mane plays surprise packets Equatorial Guinea, Salah will lock horns with Morocco in the last eight of this year’s AFCON.
Can one of Mane and Salah actually win the AFCON?
Both players have been in sub-par form in the AFCON. Sadio Mane has scored two goals for Senegal (one of them a 97th-minute penalty), while Salah has gotten one goal. Though, Salah did score the winning penalty in the penalty shootout against Ivory Coast.
It is also worth noting here that Sadio Mane might miss his country’s clash against Equatorial Guinea, as he had a dangerous head clash in his round of 16 game against Cape Verde.
Mane got knocked out cold after he clashed in mid-air with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha. However, despite getting knocked down, Mane continued playing and even scored a goal before finally being substituted.
Meanwhile, the showdown between North African giants, Egypt and Morocco, will be a great game to watch. In their last five meetings, Morocco have won three of them. As mentioned before Salah has not been in his best form in the AFCON, but against Morocco, he will have to dig his shooting boots out. Morocco have some great talent in likes of Achraf Hakimi, Youssef En-Nesyri and Sofiane Boufal.
On the other hand, Senegal faces Equatorial Guinea. While Mane has said that he is “very well”, there is still some doubt around the player’s involvement in the quarter-final. Senegal will hope Mane would be available to play against the surprise package of AFCON.
Liverpool’s third representative, Keita, watched from the sidelines as Guinea lost to Gambia in the round of 16.
Can we realistically see Mane and Salah face off in the AFCON final? It will surely be interesting to watch irrespective of whom you support.
