End of the road for Uganda as last minute goal sinks Cranes

FT: Uganda 0 Egypt 1
Mali 0 Ghana 1

Port-Gentil, Gabon | AFP |

Abdallah El Said scored with a minute left as Egypt snatched a 1-0 win over Uganda on Saturday that leaves them on the verge of the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals and eliminated their opponents.

The substitute lashed in after collecting a Mohamed Salah pass to leave the seven-time champions needing only a point from their last Group D game against Ghana — who beat Mali 1-0 earlier in the day — to go through.

Uganda, who had a Joseph Ochaya effort disallowed early in the second half, are the first team to be knocked out of this Cup of Nations after a second consecutive 1-0 defeat.

Egypt brought 44-year-old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary and Stoke City winger Ramadan Sobhi into their starting line-up but again Hector Cuper’s side — who drew 0-0 with Mali in their opening game — lacked a creative edge.

Salah is supposed to give them that and the Roma man came closest for the Pharaohs in the first half, although a lifted ball from a tight angle drifted beyond the back post.

Faruku Miya fired wide for Uganda and it was from his cross that Ochaya turned the ball in at the back post in the 52nd minute, but the effort was disallowed.

The majority of the crowd in Port-Gentil, most of them Malians, had left the stadium after the day’s first match and they did not miss much.

El Hadary had to palm away a Godfrey Walusimbi free-kick delivery, while El Said fired over and Trezeguet failed to seriously trouble Denis Onyango in the Uganda goal.

A goalless stalemate seemed inevitable until a sweeping Egyptian move in the 89th minute culminated in Salah teeing up El Said, whose low shot was too powerful for Onyango.

Standings
Ghana     2 2 0 0 2 0 6 – qualified
Egypt      2 1 1 0 1 0 4
Mali        2 0 1 1 0 1 1
Uganda  2 0 0 2 0 2 0

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