Mohamed Salah makes the difference in Egypt’s combat victory over Morocco | Africa Cup of Nations 2022

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Strong defense plus Mohamed Salah equals progress. It might not be particularly nice to watch but it seems to work. This was a dismal match, two hours of spoiling football, but in the football that was played, Salah was decisive. He scored the equalizer and made the winner, so Egypt will meet Cameroon in the semi-finals on Thursday, a meeting between the two most successful teams in the history of the Nation Cup.

Egypt made its way to this stage, scoring only two goals in four matches. That has always been the case for Carlos Queiroz, and for all his success, his cautious strategy could threaten to fail if his side admits early. They were here in the back in six minutes, which would have been earlier had it not been for the oddly extended VAR check. Ayman Ashraf flew clearly Ashraf Hakimi and Sofiane Boufal flirted with the penalty kick.

That forced Egypt out, and in the brief football eruptions between buzzing, brawling and feigning injury, there were moments when they threatened to enjoy adventure. But only moments, because this was a game that was rarely allowed to continue. It was a match in which the private seats maintained a constant state of tension and at least as much energy was expended in yelling at the fourth official as in trying to manage affairs on the pitch.

Mohamed Salah hits the ball in the goal of Yassin Bono to equalize with Egypt. Photo: Kenzo Tripuillard/AFP/Getty Images

The second half started with a short football match. Egypt stopped complaining and started playing and the effect was immediate. Salah, after being marginal, has suddenly become a central figure, working in Morocco.

And he created an opportunity for Trezeguet, who was a substitute in the first half for the injured Ahmed Hegazy, to hit the ball into the goal. His involvement helped force a corner kick, and after Mustafa Mohamed’s header was saved, Salah was there to flatten his clever side foot. And that was, for football, other than Muhammad Abu Jabal’s amazing save from the late Nayef Ajurd’s header.

On the basis of those first 10 minutes of the second half, it was hard not to conclude that perhaps Egypt was better off just playing. Not everything should be draining, but it seems that Egypt wants to break the rhythm of the game no matter what and whenever it can. Abu Jabal’s prolonged departure with a thigh injury lasted longer than Glenn Close’s death in Fatal Attraction.

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There is something frustrating about seeing two talented soccer teams with so little interest in playing soccer. It was not a big surprise when a fight broke out between 16 players a quarter of an hour before its start with Hakimi and Mohamed. Even then, the pull of gravity proved too much for some to ignore, as Mounir El Haddadi threw himself to the ground after feeling a hand tied to his chest apparently unaware that it came from Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye.

But in the end, it was Salah’s ability that triumphed. He broke the right flank and, after hitting three defenders, sent Trezeguet’s low cross to take the win.

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