Pharaohs are on the reverse page of history. Too many times, the most trophy-winning national team in the history of the continental competition got through with victories in penalty shoot-outs, and it can ‘thank’ them for a solid number of the seven it won so far. Everything turned around in the last two years, since after the roulette from the spot, Egypt was defeated for the third time in a row. After losing the 2022 final and the play-off for the World Cup to Senegal, Egypt was also eliminated from the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations after a penalty shootout. In the meeting with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the score was tied 1:1 after 120 minutes, but the popular Leopards triumphed 8-7 in penalties after nine series and qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time since 2017.DR Congo 1-1 Zambia DR Congo 1-1 Morocco DR Congo 0-0Tanzania DR Congo 1-1 EgyptDR Congo have won zero games at AFCON but are now in the quarter finals. I love AFCON 😭😭😭— Rodgersdusa 🇺🇬 (@Rodgersdusa) January 28, 2024 Rui Vitoria knew that his team does not have much attacking potential in the absence of Mohamed Salah, so he assigned the entire game in the opponent’s half to centre forward Mostafa Mohamed. The Nantes striker is a classic breaker and on several occasions since the beginning of the tournament, he has proven to be extremely important for the continent’s most trophy-winning team. The Pharaohs were a bit more concrete in the first thirty minutes, but DR Congo took the lead in the 37th in a rather “Egyptian way”.THE PHARAOHS SUCCUMB TO THE EAGLES CLAW!Full time Egypt 1 – 1 DR CongoDR Congo wins on penalty shootout by 9 goals to 8. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 #AFCON2023 #AFCON2024 pic.twitter.com/V6knqFKpoB— K-SPORT (@KSPORT15) January 28, 2024 The sub-Saharan national team showed the cunning characteristic of selections from the north of the continent. Artur Masuaku won a lot of space during the kick-out and sent the ball to the goal-out line where Joane Wissa was waiting. Brentford’s attacker sent it in front of the goal line, where Meschack Elia did his best. But just seven minutes later, the Leopards cancelled the lead themselves. Dylan Batubinsika, a member of the French second division team Saint-Etienne, saved a penalty kick in the last moments of the first half and thus gave hope to Egypt. Once again, Mostafa Mohamed realized that in the absence of Salah, he is the most responsible player of the team, and with his calmness from 11 meters, he fully justified such an epithet. With a shot to the upper right corner, he didn’t leave even the slightest chance to goalkeeper Lionel M’pasi.AFCON 2023: Last-minute header sends Guinea through to the quarterfinalsThe second half of the meeting at the stadium in San Pedro was the most uninteresting in the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations so far. Unfortunately for the neutral spectators, DR Congo did not show that courage from the duel of the second round of the group stage when they continuously attacked against the favored Morocco, got a point, and probably deserved all three. The caution of both teams resulted in inevitable entry into overtime. All chances for Egypt to show a little more desire to threaten the opponent failed in the 97th minute when Mohamed Hamdi earned a second yellow card with a disastrous start. The team of the Belgian strategist Sebastien Desabre had more possession of the ball from that moment on, but the initiative turned out to be fruitless. Virtually no serious chances were seen in the extra thirty minutes.Egypt’s goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal turned out to be the tragic figure of the match, as the was the one who missed the decisive penalty. Contrary to all beliefs, almost all other players from both teams were great at shooting penalties, but Gabal was not precise, and in the next round, his colleague from another team Lionel M’pasi used his opportunity and took DR Congo to the quarterfinals, where they will meet Guinea on Friday. AFCON 2023 – LAST 16SaturdayAngola – Namibia 3-0 (2-0)/Dala 38, 43 Mabululu 66/Nigeria – Cameroon 1-0 (0-0)/Lookman 36/SundayEquatorial Guinea – Guinea 0-1 (0-0)/Bayo 90+8/Egypt – Dr Congo 1-1 (1-1) penalties 8-9/Mohamed (p) 45+1 – Elia 37/Monday20:00: (2.00) Cape Verde (3.20) Mauritania (4.20)23:00: (2.35) Senegal (3.10) Ivory Coast (3.30)Tuesday20:00: (2.30) Mali (3.10) Burkina Faso (3.40)23:00: (1.62) Morocco (3.50) S.Africa (6.50)***odds are subject to change***
