Egypt’s period of success during the late 2000s at the Africa Cup of Nations can be defined by forward-thinking attackers who seemed to have only one instruction on their mind when taking the pitch: go for goal. In 2006, the duo of Ahmed Hassan and Emad Moteab scored eight of Egypt’s 12 goals. Two years later the triumvirate of Hosny Abd Rabo, Mohamed Aboutrika and Amr Zaki scored four each. In 2010, it was Hassan again, alongside the super-sub Gedo, who averaged a goal every 35 minutes.
The national team now boasts their best-ever goalscorer in Mohamed Salah. But the mentality has changed somewhat and he has scored only six goals in three Afcon editions, two in each. Combining that with the fact that he is relied on as Egypt’s primary creator makes one thing abundantly clear: he needs help.
