CAN-2025: Mohamed Salah Saves Egypt from a Starting Blunder Against Zimbabwe

In a surprising match led by Zimbabwe, Egypt managed to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory on Monday in Agadir, thanks to a last-minute goal from their superstar Mohamed Salah in the added time of the game, marking their debut in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Until that moment, Salah, like his fellow Egyptian strikers, had struggled to make an impact. However, he finally overpowered his defender in the box, turned around, and executed a half-volley to score, bringing relief to the nearly 30,000 fans in Agadir's grand stadium (2-1, 90+1).

The Liverpool forward, who seems to be rejuvenating his performance with the national team, spared his squad, one of the tournament favorites, from a devastating upset.

Just minutes earlier, Omar Marmoush, another key player, had restored some order for the Egyptian side.

In the 63rd minute, the Manchester City forward charged down the left flank, entered the box, and struck with all his might close-range, leaving Zimbabwean goalkeeper Washington Arubi, who had been heroic until that point, with no chance (1-1, 63rd minute).

The Grand Stadium in Agadir almost witnessed the first major shock of the tournament as the modest Zimbabwe team came perilously close to toppling Egypt.

For over 15 minutes, Egypt was pinned back in their own half, with the Zimbabwean side capitalizing on the Egyptian strikers' ineptitude, including Salah, who squandered numerous opportunities. They were ultimately punished when Prince Dube, assisted by Emmanuel Jalai, managed to beat veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy, much to everyone's astonishment (1-0, 20th minute).

The "Warriors" nearly doubled their lead four minutes later when El-Shenawy struggled to catch a shot from Daniel Msendami, which was almost tapped in by Washington Navaya.

This moment stunned the many Egyptian supporters dressed as pharaohs and sent the few Zimbabwean fans into a state of disbelief.

Hossam Hassan, the Egyptian coach, known for his serious demeanor, was visibly enraged at his strikers and made a substitution in the 34th minute, replacing Emam Ashour with Mostafa Mohamed from Nantes.

Aside from Marmoush's goal, Egypt, despite being technically and collectively superior, couldn't break through the defensive wall set up by Zimbabwe in the second half until Salah intervened.

His teammates, aiming for their eighth title in a tournament that has eluded them for 15 years, narrowly escaped a disastrous start but will need to present a much stronger performance on Friday in Agadir against South Africa, who had earlier defeated Angola (2-1).