Nantes winger Moses Simon was a constant threat down the left flank and one of his rides ended with a cross headed by Joe Aribo for Kelechi Iheanacho and the Leicester City forward, with a beautiful shot to the squad, sent the ball to the net to ultimately achieve both the game’s only goal (30).
The Egyptian ‘Pharaohs’, seven-time continental champions, they could not get rid of Nigerian control until the final stretch of the game and finally Salah appeared, in a heads-up with Maduka Okoye from which the goalkeeper emerged victorious (71).
The team now led by the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz thus added a new disappointment in a tournament in which they have not stood out in the last four editions, all held since their last victory in 2010.
Nigeria, on the other hand, has been the selection, among the candidates for the title that have played so far, the one that made the best impression.
Another favorite, Algeria, made their debut in the tournament with a poor goalless draw against Sierra Leone (0-0), a modest team that gave a master class on how to play with an organized defense and even dominated in the first half. , when he had the two best scoring chances (Alhadji Kamara in 5 and Umaru Bangura in 23).
The reigning continental champions did not react until the second half, with a pass from their star Riyad Mahrez to Yacine Brahimi that was cut in extremis by goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara (52), just four minutes after he was saved by an offside of having conceded the first goal.
In the last half hour, the Algerians did go for the victory and had several good chances to score, such as a shot from Mahrez that Kamara saved (81), but because of what was offered in the first hour of play, the North Africans did not deserve the victory. victory.
