Egypt have qualified for the Summer Olympics for the second time and will look to repeat as U-23 Africa Cup of Nations champions after defeating Guinea in Tuesday’s opening semifinal at the 2023 edition. A shot from Mohamed Shehata in the opening ten minutes provided the winning goal for the Pharaohs whose strong defense kept the Guinean attack from equalizing. Egypt will face the winner of the second semifinal between hosts Morocco and Mali in the final on Saturday.
Guinea faced a difficult challenge to break down a defense that has yet to concede a goal at the competition through three matches and their task became even more difficult early on. In the 8th minute the Syli National fell behind when a cross from the left wing by Egypt captain Ibrahim Adel was touched out to the edge of the penalty area. El Gaish midfielder Shehata pounced to fire a low shot past goalkeeper Mory Keita to give the Egyptian team the lead.
Egypt goalkeeper Hamza Alaa was troubled by a couple of chances for the Guinean team. Syli captain Ibrahima Camara came close in the 23rd minute but dragged his low effort just wide and Egypt maintained their lead when halftime arrived.
Horoya AC midfielder Fode Camara posed the greatest challenge to Alaa close to the hour mark with a powerful drive from distance but Alaa produced an excellent diving save. Alaa, who was awarded with the Man of the Match, preserved his clean sheet with another save late on from Salifou Soumah’s hopeful long range shot.
Highlights of the first semifinal are below.
