Mo Salah delivers initial reaction ahead of AFCON final showdown with Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane

The pair will face off in the AFCON final, with one Anfield hero destined for heartbreak.
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Egypt talisman Mohamed Salah has revealed how happy he is after reaching the AFCON final for only the second time in his career - despite being visibly upset with the referee throughout the Pharoah’s semi-final triumph.

The Liverpool star was furiously waved away by referee Bakary Papa Gassama during Thursday’s dramatic win over host nation Cameroon after seeking explanation as to why his manager, Carlos Queiroz, had been sent off.

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The Pharaohs boss will now watch Sunday’s final from the stands.

Despite the agitation, Salah led his nation to a a historic showdown, where he will come face to face with his Anfield teammate Sadio Mane and his Senegal side.

Both countries are driven to win the AFCON for different reasons.

For Egypt, it would be an eighth continental title that would help to establish their authority as the most successful team in the history of the competition.

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Salah will also want to be remembered as the talisman who helped the Pharoahs to yet another continental triumph, and a significant piece of international silverware would surely help his personal quest to win the Ballon D’or at the end of the season too.

As for Senegal, they are looking to end a cycle of near misses, having reached the final on two occasions only to leave empty handed both times.

The Teranga Lions, despite being one of Africa’s biggest teams, have never won the tournament and may feel there will never have a better opportunity to do so than in Sunday’s clash.

 FEBRUARY 03: MOHAMED SALAH of Egypt and NOUHOU TOLO of Cameroon (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images) FEBRUARY 03: MOHAMED SALAH of Egypt and NOUHOU TOLO of Cameroon (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
FEBRUARY 03: MOHAMED SALAH of Egypt and NOUHOU TOLO of Cameroon (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Mane is considered the biggest star to ever come out of Senegal, but he is consistently reminded that he owes his people the AFCON trophy as a justification for his status as his country’s greatest son.

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But despite all of the intriguing subtext, Salah says he is just delighted for all Egyptians and was happy with how they played against Cameroon.

Speaking after the semi-final win over Cameroon, the Premier League’s leading goal-scorer told Egyptian website yallakora: “We controlled the game and I want to say congratulations to all my teammates and the people of Egypt.”

Salah’s Egyptian teammate Mohamed Elneny also told our sister site LondonWorld that his side deserved to make the final and that they would be ready for the game, even if they have had to get there via a penalty shoot-out.

The Arsenal man said: “We are a strong side. Everyone can see and we are going to prepare for the final like champions too.

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“We have to recover because we have played a lot of games for 120 minutes, so we need to recover but we have to prepare very well.

“This team deserves all it has gotten and we are going to make sure that we have prepared very well for the final and Insha Allah we will win it.

“We played well and fought against a very good Cameroon side who were roared on by their home fans but we knew if we stayed in the game then we had a chance.

“We are a very good side and it showed today.”

Head to head between Egypt and Senegal

Games played between them: 12

Egypt: 6

Senegal: 4

Draw : 2

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