You can measure Mohamed Salah’s tantalising, frustrating relationship with the Africa Cup of Nations in tiny details, many of them single, erratic bounces of the ball.
Bad pitches have been an ongoing obstacle, the playing surfaces in two of his previous three expeditions to the tournament a blight although they were often also a stimulus that showed how resourceful Salah can be in adapting his slick, quick game when conditions impede it.
On Sunday the bounce of the ball, a ricochet off the inside of a goalpost and over the Mozambique goal-line from a Salah penalty, went hugely in his favour, and Egypt’s.
With that injury-time equaliser for 2-2, an outcome as headline-making as any in Salah’s Afcon saga was averted. Here’s some context for the shock 2-1 lead Mozambique held going into stoppage time at Abidjan’s Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.