So far the tournament is going through a slow start (only nine goals in nine games) but that doesn’t mean there is no excitement. There are for sure – in the form of surprises. Day three of Africa Cup of Nations brought us Sierra Leone’s die-hard performance against reigning continental champions Algeria, Nigerian victory over Egypt in the derby of the day and highlight misses from Guinea-Bissau in the closing minutes of the match against Sudan.AFCON 2021: Title holders Algeria held by stubborn Sierra LeoneIn the first match of the day, Leone Stars showed their tough side and made it to a draw against the north African favourites. Algeria did have their chances via Slimani, Feghouli, Mahrez and Bensebaini but eventually failed to materialize all the chances. One most responsible – hero of the day – Sierra Leone goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara.Kamara made seven saves against Algeria, the most by a goalkeeper without conceding at AFCON since 2015. According to Opta’s expected goals model, Kamara prevented 1.3 goals today.This is what African football is about. Mohamed Kamara of #TeamSierraLeone, a GK in the country’s local league, receives his man of the match award in tears, after a heroic display against the reigning champions. A small emotional bite from #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/r6s21TqpUx— Uri Levy (@Levyninho) January 11, 2022 The clash of the day between the Super Eagles and the Pharaohs showed, above all, the energy Nigerians have at their disposal. A lot of running, penetrating, dangerous flank plays – Mohamed Salah and his teammates simply could not find the formula to take the game over. Albeit the Egyptians tried constantly in the final ten minutes, the West Africans looked like they have it all under control.The epithet of the fail of the day goes to the Liverpool star. He was nowhere to be found and it was obvious he needs the help of his Anfield colleagues to reach that level of notorious we know him for.1 – Mohamed Salah 🇪🇬 against Nigeria:35 touches, 4 in the opposition box1 shot attempted (1 on target)2 dribbles attempted (1 successful)Denied. #TeamEgypt #NGAEGY #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/5RYJILDT0U— OptaJean (@OptaJean) January 11, 2022 The least attractive meeting saw Sudan and Guinea Bissau exchange errors, long balls and inaccurate shots for over 80 minutes. However, the 88th minute gave more excitement than some half-times provide. Laughable penalty attempt from Pele and a great save from Ali Abdallah Abu-Eshrein, crossbar shaking from Piqueti and a dead-angle miss from the same player – all packed in 10 seconds – a great way to close off another day of AFCON. Well, let’s it shares the Fail of the day column with Salah.AFCON 2021: Lullaby of a match topped with a thriller ending, penalty saved and the bar rattled in a matter of secondsGoal of the day goes to – well the only goal of the day. Let’s not take it away from Kelechi Iheanacho, it was a marvelous strike, but truth be told he had no competition today, literally.Let’s just hope the upcoming matches will gift us more goals because that is all that is missing.AFCON 2021: Super Eagles fly over the Pharaohs, Iheanacho scores for the well deserved victory
