GHANA AND EGYPT STALEMATE AS AFCON MATCHDAY 2 GETS OFF TO AN EXCITING START!

Matchday 2 of the Africa Cup of Nations started off with some fireworks on Thursday afternoon as entertaining football was dished out in all three of the fixtures that took place.  Equatorial-Guinea started the day off with a 4-2 win over Guinea-Bissau as the latter became the first country to be knocked out of 2024 edition of the AFCON.

Nigeria squared off with hosts, Ivory Coast in what turned out to be a solid performance from the Super Eagles as they held off the Ivorians for a 1-0 win. However, the highlight of the day was at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny, where Ghana took on an Egypt side that was desperate for a win following their draw against Mozambique in their opening clash.

CHRIS HUGHTON HAPPY WITH BLACK STARS PERFORMANCE

Ghana Head Coach, Chris Hughton has praised his team’s effort in their 2-2 draw against the Pharaohs of Egypt. The Black Stars took the lead through West Ham’s on-form Mohammed Kudus, who piledrove an effort from far out to beat El Shenawy in the Egyptian goals to give the Ghanaians the lead before half-time.

In the second stanza of the game, a costly error from the Ghanaian defence allowed Omar Marmoush in behind to slot in the equaliser before Kudus scored his brace to give Ghana the lead again. However, the Black Stars lost their lead as the Egyptians equalised again through Mostafa Mohammed. 

In what was an improved performance compared to their opening game against Cape Verde, Hughton believes that his team can still qualify despite the frustration of not having won either of their group games.

"We will continue to fight, it's true that there's a lot of frustration in the locker room. Our team deserved more, but football is like that. It's frustrating. With a similar performance, we would surely have won. Two errors cost us the match. We didn't take this opportunity to take the three points."

CONCERN FOR EGYPT AND LIVERPOOL AS SALAH SUFFERS FROM A HAMSTRING INJRUY

Concerns will be very high for both Egypt and Liverpool as Mohammed Salah came off the pitch clutching his hamstring before the half-time whistle. Egypt Head Coach, Rui Vitoria, has confirmed that there’s been no clarity on the severity of the injury, but they remain concerned about the talisman’s  availability in their last group stage clash against Cape Verde. "Of course, we are worried, and we hope it is not too serious," Vitoria said.