Six-time AFCON Champions Egypt downed host nation Cameroon last night to advance to the finals of this year’s tournament.
The game was largely frustrating for the Pharaohs as they had very little to work with in terms of chances and their opponents also dominated possession.
Add to that a host of decisions that went against them and you have an incensed bunch.
The tension and anger reached a tipping point after the full-time whistle as Egypt’s talisman Mo Salah marched over to the ref to let his displeasure be known.
It’s rare to see the Liverpool forward look so livid but this referee Bakary Papa Gassama evidently got him there.
There is, unfortunately, no audio available of the interaction between the two but you can be certain that Salah was reminding the referee of his decisions.
In response, the Gassama firmly held his ground and refused to descend into a quarrel with the Egyptian, and after a few seconds, he began to simply wave him away.
Salah did not take kindly to the referee’s gestures and began to stare him down, a scary sight to say the least.
Eventually, the 29-year-old was taken away from the altercation by management staff and the clip has since gone viral.
Most animated I’ve ever seen Salah pic.twitter.com/y3DmrqjYeE
— elliot (@Ifcelliot) February 3, 2022
It’s likely that his frustrations were added to by a disappointing performance from him on the night.
The Liverpool man managed only 32 touches despite being on the field for the entire 120 minutes.
A similarly shocking stat is his pass completion rate, as he managed to complete only 8 successful passes through the game.
📊 Mo Salah’s 90 minutes by numbers
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) February 3, 2022
Touches – 27
Shots – 1
Pass Accuracy – 53%
Accurate Passes – 8
Key Passes – 0
Dribbles Attempted – 1
Dribbles Completed – 0
Fouls – 4
Rating at kick-off – 6.00
Rating after 90 mins – 6.00
Nonetheless, he will now look forward to the ultimate fixture, the Pharaohs victory sets up a blockbuster final against Senegal.