The national team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) defeated Egypt on penalty kicks 8-7 in the match that ended in a 1-1 draw between the two teams. The African Cup is being held in Côte d’Ivoire.
On this last Sunday, January 28, 2024, the 1/8 matches of the Africa Cup of Nations will continue to be played, The game, which took place at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pédro City, started with a lot of energy as both the RDC and Egypt found the back of the net in the first two minutes despite no goals being scored.
In the 10th minute, Egypt tried to get in front of the goal many times, but the RDC defenders, Chancel Mbemba and Batubinsika Dylan, blocked Hamdi Fathi and Ahmed Hegazy, RDC striker Meschack Elie got on the ball on his own and entered the net in the 23rd minute but Egyptian defender Ahmed El Fotouh was down to block his shot.
RD Congo opened the scoring in the 38th minute, opened by Meschack Elie who sent the ball to Yoane Wissa who played well with Arthur Masuaku, At the end of the first half, Dylan Batumbinsika committed a foul which led to the referee, Abongile Tom going to look at the VAR video to award a penalty which resulted in Egypt’s penalty goal which was scored by Mostafa Mohamed in the first minute of the sixth extra time on 45.
Both teams went into the break tied at 1-1.
Egypt’s head coach, Rui Vitoria, started the second half with an immediate change, replacing Mohamed Hamdi with Ahmed El Fotouh, Both teams continued to struggle in the second half, with players such as Egypt’s Trezeguet and RDC’s Cedric Bakambu trying to score goals.
While both teams had slowed down the pace and played a lot, the coach of RDC Sébastien Desabre, managed to get the Batubinsika defense out of the field and put Henoc Inonga on the field in the 65th minute, After these changes, Egypt’s players passed the ball well in the middle of the pitch but did not penetrate the RDC’s defense, which contained many players who looked like they were back in the game.
Despite keeping possession of the ball, both teams were fouled late in the game as the 90 minutes ended with seven yellow cards handed out to both sides, The game was extended for six minutes but ended without a goal, they will prepare to play an additional 30 minutes, At the 94th minute, Silas entered the field to replace Wissa, who picked up the ball and was supposed to create a goal in the goalkeeper Gabaski’s net, but he made a mistake and it was denied.
Egypt made it tough until the 97th minute when Mohamed Hamdi was shown a red card for a second yellow card, RDC took advantage of the opportunity to gain momentum so that they played the ball in Egypt’s field and tried to enter the net to find a goal. 120 minutes ended with RDC not having a penalty.
Egypt’s Mostafa Mohamed and RDC’s Arthur Masuaku combined for the second penalty, which went off the mark in the ninth when Gabaski hit the crossbar, The match ended with the RDC national team winning the Egyptian team on penalty kicks 8-7 after a 1-1 draw, reaching the ¼ of the Africa Cup of Nations. In the previous match, the National Team of Guinea defeated Equatorial Guinea in a difficult way as they won 1-0. This is the goal obtained in the extra minute (90+8) scored by Mohamed Bayo.
In addition to the last-minute defeat, Equatorial Guinea received a red card in the 55th minute and missed a penalty in the 68th by the tournament’s top-scoring striker, Emilio Nsue, In 1/4, RDC will meet Guinea-Conakry in a match scheduled for February 2, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
On this Wednesday, the ⅛ matches continue where Cap Vert will play against Mauritania at 7:00 p.m., while Senegal will play against Côte d’Ivoire in front of many fans at 10:00 p.m.
