Three Egyptians make CAF 2021 AFCON Team of the Tournament
Three Egypt national team players have made the starting XI of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament after losing the final to Senegal.
After a long journey to the Africa Cup of Nations final, Egypt suffered a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat against Senegal on Sunday night.
On their route to the final, The Pharaohs played against the likes of Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and hosts Cameroon, but couldn’t get their hands on the cup.
Not your average players 🤩
Here is the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 best XI 👇#AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/YP0k5eUe2n
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) February 7, 2022
The fans can still look back on the competition with pride, knowing that the players played their hearts out to bring the cup back to Egypt.
However, CAF included just three Egyptians in their starting XI for the Team of the Tournament, with skipper Mohamed Salah leading the attack with Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane and topscorer Vincent Aboubakar.
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Salah scored two of Egypt’s four goals in the competition, while assisting Mahmoud Trezeguet’s strike against Morocco, leaving him with a direct impact to 75% of the Pharaohs’ goals in Cameroon.
The second name to make the starting XI was Mohamed Elneny, who started every game of Egypt’s route to the final and was subbed off just twice, while earning the Man of the Match award against Ivory Coast.
The Arsenal man made the three-man midfield alongside Senegal & Leicester City’s Nampalys Mendy and new Pyramids FC Burkinabe signing Ibrahim Blati Touré.
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Mohamed Abdelmonem was the third and final member of the Egypt squad to make the starting XI following his heroic performances during the tournament, which saw him score the winner against Sudan and earn the Man of the Match award against Cameroon.
The 23-year-old was put next to Edmond Tapsoba of Burkina Faso & Bayer Leverkusen in the heart of the defence, with Achraf Hakimi and Saliou Ciss playing at full-back.
Moreover, two Egyptians made the bench in Ahmed Fetouh and Mahmoud Hamdy El-Wensh, despite the latter missing three games and playing just 45 minutes against Guinea-Bissau in the group-stages.
The most controversial decision was the CAF leaving Mohamed Abou-Gabal out of the team, with Senegal’s Edouard Mendy and Andre Onana of Cameroon getting the nod ahead of him.