Salah silences Aboubakar as Egypt beat Cameroon to final ticket

Egypt celebrate after their penalty shoot out victory over Cameroun in the second semifinal of the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations in Yaoundé… yesterday

Egypt’s talisman, Mohammed Salah, chose the best possible way to reply Cameroun captain, Vincent Aboubaker, by leading the record African champions to another Africa Cup of Nations final in place of the Indomitable Lions.

Just before yesterday’s semi final at the Olembe Stadium, Yaounde, Aboubaker went on a rant, saying that Salah “doesn’t produce a lot of stuff in the game.”

Aboubakar, the tournament’s top scorer with six goals, was eager to play down Salah’s threat while speaking ahead of the match, added: “He doesn’t impress me much. I say it clearly because I’m an honest person and I have my way of seeing things.

“He’s a good player, he scores a lot but he doesn’t produce a lot of stuff in the game. He’s a good player but not at the level of some like Mbappe.”

Rather than dampen the Egyptians, Aboubaker’s rant brought out the best in the more technically drilled Pharaohs, who held the host to a goalless 120 minutes before the battle was settled by a penalty shoot out.

Egypt scored four of their five kicks, while Cameroun lost three, handing the seventh time champions a final berth against Senegal.

In a game where Egypt manager, Carlos Queiroz, was sent off in the dying moments of normal time, the Pharaohs came with a highly technical game, bottling the midfield and denying Aboubakar and his strike partner, Karl Teko-Ekambi, the service to trouble the North Africans.

The game had been an evenly poised affair with both sides having chances at either end, but took a turn towards the end of normal time.

With just minutes to go in the second half, Queiroz was left incensed by a