A late, late winner for Egypt sees the Pharaohs dancing around the pitch, while some of their players console their Morocco counterparts, who look pretty flat. Karim El Ahmadi is in tears, while Mehdi Benatia looks downbeat too. El Hadary, the Egypt goalkeeper, is screaming with delight and you can quite literally hear how much it means to him.
Egypt are through to the semi-finals, and they have made it there without conceding a goal to date in the competition. They did not exactly look watertight – and Morocco hit the woodwork twice – but Kahraba’s goal in the end proved to be the difference. Thanks for your company, emails and tweets. Bye!
Full-time: Egypt 1-0 Morocco
The seven-time winners are through to the semi-finals. The Pharaohs will face Burkina Faso in Libreville on Wednesday. Morocco won a foul in the dying seconds, but Fajr could not quite produce a magical equaliser and instead he rattles the side-netting.
90+3 mins: Egypt make their final change, with the game all but wrapped up. Hamed comes off, and Morocco remain in search of an equaliser.
90+3 mins: Both managers with a last roll of the dice, with Aliloui on for Morocco, who have a free-kick just inside their own half ...
90+2 mins: Just 90 seconds or so left on the clock and Morocco look down and out with Egypt’s 100% defensive record looking pretty good here. They, remarkably, are still yet to concede at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
90 mins: Morocco will feel hard done by, after hitting the woodwork twice but that one burst of energy by Karahba might just prove the difference. Into added time in Port-Gentil.
88 mins: Some heavy pressure ended with El Ahmadi winning a corner-kick. It was whipped in and the substitute Karahba was the quickest to react, firstly heading the ball before hooking it goalwards with his second touch. Egypt celebrate, with the semi-finals in sight.
GOAL! Egypt 1-0 Morocco (Karahba, 87)
We have a goal, and surely the winning goal too.
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85 mins: Da Costa pirouettes away from about three Egypt defenders and the centre-back does brilliantly to keep the ball, amid all of his trickery. He was dancing with the ball bouncing away from him. Into the final few minutes we go then.
84 mins: El Said floats in a deep cross from the right but it’s cleared and Boussoufa duly drives forward for Morocco. Extra time is looking increasingly likely.
82 mins: Both teams are beginning to show a little more urgency, with neither abundantly keen on extra time or the dreaded penalty shootout.
80 mins: Trezeguet breaks down the left but again the pitch does him no favours and the ball runs out of play. Egypt are growing into this, though, and just at the right time too.
77 mins: Egypt win a free-kick and Salah goes close! El Kajoui does superbly to keep Salah out, after El Said dinks the ball over the Morocco wall and towards the former Chelsea man. Salah then hooks it goalwards but the Morocco goalkeeper is immediately off his line, makes himself big and keeps it out.
76 mins: Morocco surge forward again, with Fajr down the left and Bouhaddouz, who has just not stopped up front despite little luck, meets it but his header is fairly tame. Meanwhile, Renard makes his first change of the evening, with Bouhaddouz replaced by El Kadouri.
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74 mins: Karahba, the Egypt substitute, is booked for a mist-timed challenge on El Ahmadi. The Pharaohs are losing their rag a little and at present, you’d think there would be only one winner.
73 mins: Munir, the Egypt goalkeeper, has just won himself a role in the next La La Land – or practically any film he would like – with some marvellous play-acting. He does not fool the Gabonese referee, though. Play on ...
73 mins: Morocco continue to force Egypt back, who retreat into their own half. En-Nesryi has done some bizarre things in this match, but going forward, he’s been dangerous in fairness. Saiss whips a ball in from the left but it’s easily smothered by Munir.
70 mins: The resulting free-kick is cleared and Morocco are again perhaps unfortunate not to winner a corner after Hassan’s final touch. Meanwhile, there’s a spicy collision between Fajr and Fathi.
68 mins: Bouhaddouz is enduring a tough evening, but he has not stopped. His header, combined with a helping hand from Hegazy, from Dirar’s cross almost lands in the corner of Munir’s goal but eventually it bobbles wide. Morocco should have had a corner-kick but the referee awards a goal-kick. And Morocco go again, with Fathi fouling Boussoufa.
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66 mins: En-Nesryi looks down at the pitch, absolutely disgusted. Fuming, as he looks to play a through ball of sorts and it ends up accelerating towards the feet of El Hadary in the Egypt goal. That was not planned. Morocco still have all three substitutions available to them, but Renard surely must be considering freshening it up.
64 mins: One of Kahraba’s first contributions is a meaty clash with Dirar, as he catches the winger on his nose. The resulting free-kick is wasted, and the goalkeeper again just watches it all the way.
63 mins: Egypt make a change, with Hafez off in place of Kahraba.
60 mins: Another huge opportunity goes begging for Morocco! The ball is smashed across the box on the volley but Bouhaddouz totally misses the ball from just a couple of yards out. The ball cannons off Fathi, who does not know much about it, and Morocco look increasingly close to a breakthrough.
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59 mins: Morocco have now hit the woodwork twice in this match, they’ll be hoping it’s a case of third time lucky for them. Both teams have been a lot more attack-minded so far in this half though, with Salah – unsurprisingly – Egypt’s best outlet down the right.
56 mins: A brilliant couple of minutes for Morocco, who again go close through Bouhaddouz, whose header crashes wide of goal after a good cross by Boussoufa.
55 mins: Boussoufa smashes the crossbar with a strike from distance! A corking effort from about 25 yards and his effort rebounds off the woodwork and back into play. Morocco go close again.
54 mins: Elmohamady is dispossessed by El-Nesyri, who does well, and the ball then gets spread to the right flank, where Dirar, with his first touch, slides an inviting ball across goal but it evades Bouhaddouz. A big opening for Morocco.
52 mins: After that glimpse of goal, things have calmed down a little although it’s Egypt now who seem to be in control of this tie. They are on the front foot, with Morocco forced to defend.
49 mins: Salah forces Munir in to a good save! He manages to get a shot at goal after a clever overhead-kick through ball by El Said. Salah gets a little fortunate as the ball drops favourably for him after a tussle with Da Costa and he unleashes a venomous shot at goal. It’s saved but that’s as close as Egypt have come to scoring here.
49 mins: There’s plenty of sound coming from both sets of supporters but in reality they have had little to shout about at the start of this second half. Sobhi is warming up for Egypt, directly beside Hegazy who wallops a long ball downfield.
47 mins: Egypt get things going but it’s Morocco who immediately break forward with Dirar down the right flank. He does well, getting to the byline, before the ball bobbles about a metre into the sky, just as he went to strike the ball.
Peeeeeeeeep!
And that’s the sound of the second half starting in Port-Gentil.
The second half will be underway shortly, in the next five minutes or so. And it can only get better from here on in, surely? Hopefully Mohamed Salah – or perhaps Stoke City’s Ramadan Sobhi, should he come on – inject some life into this game. Both teams look a little nervy, or perhaps they are just scared of the pitch.
Oh, and here’s some first-half statistics:
STATS | Check out the first-half stats! #CAN2017 #EGYMAR pic.twitter.com/1CjwUstjjK
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 29, 2017
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Half-time: Egypt 0-0 Morocco
After two minutes of added time, the referee calls time on the first half. It’s been anything but a classic so far, which probably means the next 45 minutes will be rip-roaring. Something that’s full of quality, though, is this Joy of Six:
43 mins: Mohsen is back on the ground and that’s his game over, and Ahmed Hassan will come on to replace him. As Mohsen leaves the field, he reveals a whole world of chest hair, before trudging off towards the dugout with the medics. Morocco break forward through Dirar but he’s eventually stopped in his tracks.
42 mins: Mohsen limps back on, but he looks a little uneasy on his feet. It would not be a surprise if he did not reappear for the second half. Morocco pour forward down the left, with Bouhhadouz charging forward and he wins a corner for his team.
40 mins: Hector Cuper, the Egypt manager, looks pained on the touchline although Mohsen looks as though he wants to play on. Meanwhile, Egypt continue to play with 10 men.
39 mins: Morocco play on as Mohsen crashes to the floor after falling awkwardly following a collision with Da Costa. His knee is already heavily strapped up and his right foot appears to buckle a little on the landing. We might have a premature change for Egypt.
36 mins: That might just be all Morocco need to give them the incentive here. Da Costa did brilliantly to not only keep the ball in play but steer the ball across the box, with a dangerous cross that bobbled awkwardly for the Egypt defence. Morocco go again, building from the back through captain Benatia.
34 mins: Morocco hit the bar! This time it’s Morocco who win a foul on the left flank, and Da Costa does brilliantly to hook the ball across the box from the byline but Saiss nods his header towards goal and it bounce onto the woodwork and away. That’s the closest either team has come to opening the scoring ...
33 mins: Salah livens things up, with a neat, dinked ball in to the box but Morocco mop it up. And another foul comes and goes, as Manuel Da Costa, once of West Ham United, is penalised for tripping El Said.
32 mins: If it stays like this, we will be heading for extra time and then penalties. En-Nesryi is left in a spin by El Said and the Morocco players are beginning to get a little frustrated with one another.
30 mins: Nothing is really happening, apart from the odd clumsy foul, usually around the halfway line. How this game could do with a spark. Where’s Sofiane Boufal when you need him?
28 mins: En-Nesryi is playing incredibly naively here, again guilty of fouling an Egypt player, this time it’s Ahmed Elmohamady. This game is terribly bitty at the moment, with Renard animated on the touchline after Benatia was panicked in clearing the ball, with little danger present.
26 mins: Da Costa soars to meet the ball but nobody else is around to help him out and Egypt sweep that up no problem. The Pharaohs surge forward, with Elmohamady again involved before Salah is fouled by Mendyl.
25 mins: Both sets of players are struggling with the pitch, with Salah becoming the latest victim of the pitch, losing his footing. A hefty tackle by Mohsen on En-Nesryi sees Morocco win a free-kick on the left flank.
22 mins: Morocco go close after good work by Dirar, who gets to the byline before his low cross is cleared by Hegazy. Saiss then heads over wastefully. Neither team will be exactly delighted with the opening quarter or so of this clash.
20 mins: Salah shoots down the right and then Elmohamady takes the ball on but he’s clumsily upended by En-Nesryi, who practically shove the full-back out the way. Once again, the resulting free-kick is poor and the referee awards a foul for some handbags in the box.
18 mins: The free-kick is played short and then a dreadful ball into the box is easily gobbled up by Munir. A wasted opportunity, that’s for sure, with Mohamed Salah and some of the big boys lurking in the box.
17 mins: It’s not been a classic so far, and Egypt have had the best sighting of goal although Morocco will probably feel they have dominated proceedings. El Said wins a foul on the halfway, with Egypt beginning to draw a couple of plucky fouls from the opposition.
15 mins: Elmohamady nutmegs En-Nesryi but his audacious attempt to get past Karim El Ahmadi in the same fashion is abruptly ended by the former Aston Villa midfielder. Neat play by Elmohamady down the right and his ball in causes trouble, with Hassan denied by the Morocco goalkeeper, Munir, at his near post.
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13 mins: Fajr whips it in, but Egypt eventually clear through Mahmoud Hassan. Egypt look to build an attack, with El Said down the left flank.
11 mins: Morocco send a free-kick towards the box but Bouhaddouz, back on his feet, cannot nod the ball towards any of his team-mates. Egypt briefly redeem possession before Faycal Fajr does well to juggle the ball back towards the box, and drawing a foul. Hamed is booked for his challenge.
9 mins: A nasty clash between Bouhaddouz and Tarek Hamed. Not a pretty collision, with both players’s studs grazing the pitch. That will hardly help the surface.
7 mins: The pitch looks like patchwork, and the ball is spending a lot of time in the air, with Boussoufa and Bouhaddouz forcing the ball forward after a mini-game of head tennis. Morocco appear back in the ascendency, until Bouhaddouz is penalised for backing into Gabr.
6 mins: Ahmed Elmohamady, of Hull City, sends the ball downfield, with En-Nesryi picking it up before forcing a corner. Benatia clears before El Ahmadi’s half-baked effort is deflected away. Egypt suddenly have a grip on the game now.
4 mins: Hervé Renard looks like a top, specialist doctor on the touchline. He’s roaring on his team, who have probably started the better here. Egypt have been penned back a little during the opening stages.
3 mins: Morocco get a free-kick just inside the Egypt half but it’s cleared away with ease. El Ahmadi is then pulled up for a foul on Mohsen. A tit-for-tat start.
2 mins: Morocco in green and Egypt in red is a nightmare for those of us who are colourblind. The biggest difficulty for the players in Port-Gentil is undoubtedly the pitch, though, with Benatia’s pass already falling foul to the surface.
Peeeeep! We're off!
The referee this evening are from Gabon, and it looks as though he could do with a bit of practice after dropping his coin during the coin toss. Morocco, who are unchanged from that win over the Ivory Coast, get things underway.
Egypt have played all of their games, remember, on this torrid surface. So they ought to know how to get the better of it. The artificial pitch at Sutton United earlier on today was probably better, as my colleague Niall has just pointed out. Now for the national anthems ...
Kick-off is just a few minutes away, with Egypt looking to finally get one over on Morocco. The two teams are in the tunnel, readying themselves for a north African derby of sorts.
It was all going pretty swimmingly for Egypt and Arsenal, but both will feel the loss of Mohamed Elneny, who misses tonight’s match with a calf injury. Arsène Wenger is down to bare bones already in midfield, although Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked pretty nifty yesterday. Anyway, back to Port-Gentil ...
The pitch in Port-Gentil does not look brilliant, and ground staff are – believe it or not – sprinkling grass on to a pitch that has taken a real battering over the last couple of weeks. Also, while I’ve got you, Egypt have not beaten Morocco since 1986.
Of that bizarre comparison with the Trezeguet, David Trezeguet said last year that “the hair is definitely not the same. But, I will have to ask my father if he had been to Egypt before”.
Team news news: Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny is out injured for the Pharaohs, but Mahmoud Hassan, the Anderlecht midfielder commonly known as ‘Trezeguet’, starts. For Morocco, they have been unable to call upon Sofiane Boufal at this tournament but Romain Saiss, who plays his club football for Wolverhampton Wanderers, starts in Port-Gentil.
#TBT: Mahmoud Hassan 'Trezeguet' was given the nickname due to his apparent resemblance to the former France striker. pic.twitter.com/fc3dCFXThk
— KingFut.com (@King_Fut) April 30, 2015
The teams!
Egypt: El Hadary, Gabr, Elmohamady, Hegazy, Fathi, Hafez, Hamed, El Said, Trezeguet, Salah, Mohsen
Morocco: El Kajoui, Mendyl, Da Costa, Benatia, Saiss, Dirar, El Ahmadi, Fajr, Boussoufa, En-Nesyri, Bouhaddouz
Preamble
Both Egypt and Morocco came through qualifying unscathed and undefeated. That will all change this evening though in Port-Gentil, in the last of the quarter-finals. Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Ghana – who beat DR Congo earlier today – are already through to the semi-finals, with the winner of this match facing Burkina Faso on Wednesday in Libreville.
Egypt played all of their group games in the city of Port-Gentil. Morocco, meanwhile, were delayed in leaving Oyem on Thursday and when they arrived in Port-Gentil, the Moroccan delegation found that the hotel set aside for them was not ready so they were forced to quickly source an alternative.
Victory for Morocco would see Hervé Renard, the national coach, move a step closer to lifting a third Africa Cup of Nations title. The Frenchman could become the first coach to win the title three times, with three different countries. “To be able to have a great party when we return to Morocco would be magnificent,” Renard said. “And I know what I am talking about.”
Egypt will not prove easy opposition, though, after progressing from Group D without conceding a goal. Should they get the better of Morocco, the possibility of a eighth title will be all the more real.
Kick-off: 7pm GMT
Ben will be here soon. In the meantime read this lovely Joy of Six on some Africa Cup of Nations memorable moments.
