YAOUNDE: Senegal are once again on the brink of a maiden Africa Cup of Nations title but must get the better of record-breaking seven-time champions Egypt in Sunday’s (today) final in Yaoundé which sees Liverpool stars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah battle it out for the trophy.

It was a difficult tournament for Cameroon, marked by the deadly crash of the Olembe stadium on January 24 and marred by organizational chaos and low attendance, but it did lead to a final showdown between two African giants.

Cameroon hoped to be there themselves, but the five-time AFCON winners who dreamed of lifting the trophy on home soil were beaten on penalties by the Egyptians in Thursday’s semi-final.

As a country, Egypt have the experience of seven past Nations Cup victories, although the most recent was in 2010 when they won their third consecutive victory.

Salah made his international debut the following year and is now desperate to win silverware, with the Pharaohs having previously been part of the team that lost the 2017 final to Cameroon and then exited prematurely as hosts in 2019.

Senegal, meanwhile, have the status of the highest-ranked national team in Africa, but also the pressure of a nation to finally win their first Nations Cup crown after losing to Algeria in the game. decisive two and a half years ago.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy at all to get to two consecutive AFCON finals, but the most important thing for us now is to go all the way and win it,” Mane said after scoring a goal. goal and scoring another in Burkina Faso’s 3-1 semi-final loss.

The Teranga Lions will be hoping it will be the third lucky time in the final after also losing the title decider in 2002, falling on penalties to Cameroon.

His team must take advantage of the extra rest day granted to them given that their semi-final was played 24 hours earlier than that of their opponents, and Senegal also went through all three knockout matches in 90 minutes.

In stark contrast, Carlos Queiroz’s Egypt demanded penalties to beat Ivory Coast in the round of 16 and extra time to defeat Morocco in the quarter-finals before another shootout against Cameroon – the equivalent of an additional match in often energy-intensive conditions. .

This explains why Egypt assistant coach Diaa al-Sayed suggested moving the final one day back to give his team more time to recover.

“Senegal have one more day to train so maybe we should play the final on Monday,” he said after the semi-final.

This Nations Cup has already seen the Confederation of African Football announce last-minute venue changes without providing an official explanation, as the third-place play-off was belatedly brought forward by a day to Saturday.

Egypt, however, will not get their wish and must try to avoid the fate of Croatia, who also needed two wins on penalties and another in extra time to reach the World Cup final. 2018, where it was largely beaten by France.

“We are the only team to have played 120 minutes three times but we are very well prepared physically and we have the necessary commitment to go all the way,” insisted Al-Sayed.

Egypt will be without veteran Portuguese manager Queiroz after being shown a red card against Cameroon, while right-back Omar Kamal is also suspended.

They must also hope that Salah can have more impact on the game than he did in the semi-finals where he often appeared isolated on the right flank.

Without a doubt, Senegal have the most depth, from Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy in goal to skipper Kalidou Koulibaly in central defence, Paris Saint-Germain’s Idrissa Gana Gueye in midfield and Mane on the wing.

Mane, like Salah, is attracting attention but Senegal will be hoping their collective strength can make the difference.