Mohamed Salah, the captain of the Egyptian national team, scored a goal in the second half, leading his country to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau in the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon on Saturday. Salah, who is nominated along with Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski for the FIFA Best Player award, netted Egypt's goal with a close-range shot in the 69th minute.
Egypt now has three points from two matches, moving up to second place in Group D, while Guinea-Bissau remains at one point, the same as Sudan. Nigeria leads with six points and has secured qualification to the Round of 16. Guinea-Bissau nearly equalized toward the end, but a goal from Mama Balde was disallowed after a review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which cited a foul.
Egypt could have scored more, but the post denied attempts from Salah and Mustafa Mohamed in the first half, as well as a late effort from substitute Ahmed Sayed (Zizou). Egypt will play Sudan in their final group match next Wednesday, while Guinea-Bissau faces Nigeria.
Egypt started the match reasonably well, showing slight improvement compared to their 1-0 loss against Nigeria, with Salah hitting the post from the edge of the area just two minutes in. Mustafa Mohamed received a pass from Omar Marmoush, set it up for himself in the box, and fired a powerful shot that also hit the post.
Egypt's performance dipped in the second half, but Amr El Solia, returning from injury, sent a cross to Salah, who met it with a direct shot from close range into the net. Minutes after the goal, Omar Kamel sent a cross from the right, which Zizou met with a direct shot that hit the left post of Guinea-Bissau's goal.
Eight minutes before the end, Balde unleashed a tremendous shot from outside the box that ended up in the net of Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy. However, after the celebration by Guinea-Bissau players, VAR intervened and disallowed the goal for a foul against right-back Kamel.
Egypt defended for the remaining minutes against individual attempts from Guinea-Bissau without any changes to the score until the final whistle.
