Egypt and Senegal... Will Salah get revenge on Mane in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations?
All eyes of football fans across Africa and the Arab world are on Morocco, where the highly anticipated clash between African football giants Egypt and Senegal is set to take place once again. This eagerly awaited encounter comes as part of the semi-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, after the Pharaohs secured their place with a dramatic and thrilling 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast. The two sides will meet again next Wednesday in a fiery encounter brimming with passion and a desire for redemption.
Salah and Mane: From golden partnership to continental rivalry
It's impossible to discuss the Egypt-Senegal match without mentioning the historic partnership between Egyptian star Mohamed Salah and Senegalese lion Sadio Mane. The two stars played together for many years at Liverpool, where they wrote golden chapters in the club's history. The duo directly contributed to Liverpool's return to glory, securing the long-awaited Premier League title, the Champions League, and the Club World Cup, thanks to their decisive goals and seamless understanding under the guidance of German coach Jürgen Klopp, making them one of the most dangerous attacking duos in the world.
Painful memories of 2022... the nightmare of penalty kicks
Despite their shared success in England, the national team jersey transformed their friendship into a fierce rivalry, bringing back painful memories for the Pharaohs' captain. The scene remains vivid from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final in Cameroon, where penalty kicks denied Salah and Egypt their eighth continental title, allowing Mane and his teammates to claim their first. The wound had barely begun to heal when the two sides clashed again in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar. The same scenario played out in Dakar, where Senegal secured their place in the tournament, again via penalty kicks, leaving Salah and his teammates heartbroken and missing out on the global stage.
The importance of the confrontation and its anticipated impact
Wednesday's match in Morocco carries strategic and historical significance that transcends its status as a mere semi-final. For Egypt, the most decorated team in the competition's history (7 titles), the game represents an opportunity to break their recent Senegalese jinx and a serious attempt by Mohamed Salah to realize his ultimate dream of lifting the continental trophy with his country before retiring from international football. On the other side, Sadio Mane, the current Al-Nassr star, seeks to reaffirm the dominance of the Lions of Teranga and cement their supremacy over African football this decade.
Now, years after those successive shocks, the encounter is renewed in different circumstances and on Moroccan soil, leaving the open question: Will Mohamed Salah succeed in leading the Pharaohs to wipe away the tears of the past and exact revenge on the field, or will Sadio Mane continue to perpetuate the complex and keep the nightmare present in the memory of the Egyptians?
