Sadio Mane scored the decisive penalty to send Senegal to the World Cup finals while his Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah suffered heartbreak for Egypt.
Mane delivered the winning spot kick as Senegal beat Egypt 3-1 at the end of a tempestuous World Cup playoff second leg in Dakar on Tuesday to win a place in Qatar.
Boulaye Dia netted a fourth-minute goal as Senegal won the second leg 1-0 for a 1-1 aggregate draw at the new Diamniadio Olympic Stadium, which was packed with a capacity 50,000 crowd hours before kickoff.
The nerve-filled shoot-out started with four misses, including from both captains - Kalidou Koulibaly and then Salah - but Mane won the shoot-out, repeating his heroics after last month's Africa Cup of Nations final.
Egypt had netted a fourth-minute goal last Friday in the first leg in Cairo but that advantage was quickly eroded as Dia bundled home.
Idrissa Gana Gueye's free kick was cleared in the wrong direction by Egypt defender Ahmed Fattouh and the own goal meant the aggregate scores were level.
Senegal dominated the exchanges although the game was often interrupted by niggly fouls, gamesmanship and occasional pushing and shoving between the anxious players.
It did not help that both coaches - Aliou Cisse for Senegal and Carlos Queiroz for Egypt - spent much of the match shouting at the match officials from the touchline.
Senegal could have settled the tie inside the 90 minutes as Ismaila Sarr spurned a golden chance in the 82nd.
He was put free on goal by Mane’s defence-splitting pass but with goalkeeper Mohamed El Shennawy rushing out to close the angle, Sarr put the ball wide of the target.
Egypt’s best chance of the match fell to substitute Ahmed Zizo, who was served up an opportunity by Salah’s cross but he put his header narrowly wide.
In extra time, Senegal could also have avoided the shoot-out but Pape Abou Cisse had two efforts well stopped by El Shennawy and Pape Gueye shot wide.
In the shoot-out, the first four penalties were wasted before Sarr put Senegal ahead and Bamba Dieng made it 2-1 before Edouard Mendy saved from Mostafa Mohamed.
That gave Mane the opportunity to be a hero all over again with Senegal’s fifth kick, which he blasted straight down the middle to book their World Cup ticket.
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
On racial profiling at airports
Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
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Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
