African Cup of Nations 2017
Mali 0-0 Egypt
Egypt’s return to the African cup of Nations for the time in seven years yielded no positive results as the Pharaohs were held to a goalless draw against Mali.
In a group D game played on Tuesday at the stade de Port Gentil, Mali seemed the better side getting more scoring chances than Egypt.
Mali troubled Egypt for the better part of the game especially through Lassana Coulibaly and Moussa Marega.
Hector Cupper, the head coach of Egypt was forced to an early change with goalkeeper Ahmed El-Sharawy getting injured.
Sharawy scrambled to claw Lasanna Coulibaly’s glancing header but ended up injuring himself in the process and was replaced by veteran shot stopper Essam El-Hadary in the 24th minute.
Hadary who was making his 148th appearance for the Pharaohs made a record as the oldest player to play at the tournament at the age of 44.
The two sides settled for a barren first half and it was the same scenario after recess with either side failing to find the cutting edge.
Roma forward Mohamed Salah broke down the right before cutting the ball back to the edge of the penalty area where Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny sent a side-footed effort just over the goal area.
Mali also suffered an injury blow with Sambou Yatabare limping off and was replaced by Yves Bissouma midway through the second half.
Veteran goalkeeper Hadary pulled off a fine save closing down Moussa Marega who had got his way through the Egypt defence.
On the other hand, Marwan Mohsen almost snatched a winner for the 7 time champions with a powerful header but Mali’s goalkeeper Oumar Ssisoko pulled off an acrobatic save to deny the forward.
The result means Egypt occupy second place in group D on one point behind Ghana who edged past Uganda while Mali are third also on one point.
Egypt will play Uganda in their second game while Mali take on Ghana in a West African affair.