Rise of a Football God

Another AFCON tournament.

Another Mohamed Salah heartbreak.

At this point, heartbreak at critical moments was synonymous with the Egyptian King, maybe apart from his UEFA champions league win with Liverpool FC in the previous season.

Salah broke down in tears on the pitch as the Moroccan players celebrated.

'Again!' He growled in his mind, clenching his fists.

Salah was a great player, one of the best of his generation but when it came to the critical moments in football, there was this bad luck that followed him.

As great as he was, an African footballing legend, his legacy in international football paled in comparison to the likes of Sadio Mane, and this was simply because unlike Mane, he was yet to win an AFCON title.

Egypt were always favorites in every AFCON tournament with him on the side, and yet, they always stumbled in the critical stages.

Even in the previous 2 AFCON tournaments, though Egypt didn't do especially well in the last one as he suffered an injury early in the tournament, in the previous one, Egypt did well, going as far as the final where they engaged in an epic final showdown against Senegal.

That game was dubbed the Sadio Mane vs Mohamed Salah game.

Millions of fans tuned in from around the world to watch, and again, under the limelight, Salah failed to lift the Pharaohs of Egypt to the win that they deserved.

Sadio Mane got him on the night.

After playing a draw in fulltime and extra time, they went to a penalty shootout.

Yes, the Senegalese fans may have employed dirty tactics, pointing laser lights at the eyes of the Egyptian players who were taking the penalties.

It was incredibly dirty, yes, but Salah didn't want an excuse.

Rather, he wanted results.

But in the end, that was enough to do it.

Sadio Mane did it, scoring the final penalty in the intense penalty shootout to send Senega to victory over his Egypt, once again dooming him to failure.

Tonight's situation may not have been as painful as that of years ago, but still, this was the quarterfinal stage.

Just 2 more victories and they would have the AFCON title!

Salah bit his lips, trembling. 'Why always me?!'

His teammates noticed him crying and without hesitation, the more senior members of the squad walked towards him, hugging him to console him.

And then, the real moment of solidarity came when Achraf Hakimi noticed the Egyptian King smiling.

It didn't concern him, this was his moment to celebrate a famous victory for his country, but Hakimi was sensitive enough to approach the Egyptian.

He hugged Salah tightly, patting him on the head as he consoled him.

And then he whispered in his ear. "To me, you're still a legend".

It may feel like just superficial words, words to sound hypocritically sentimental, but Salah didn't take it that way.

Those words got to him.

And for the first time since the final whistle, Salah smiled.

He looked at Hakimi and patted him back on the head. "Thank you man". He grinned. "Now go on and win the tournament!"

"You can't eliminate me and not win, got it?"

Hakimi grinned back. "Yes sir!"

And with that, the curtain closed.

Morocco was the country to progress to the semifinal stage of the AFCON tournament, and Egypt was the first country to be eliminated.

On that same night, next up was Tunisia vs Algeria.

...

That same night, next up, the focus left the Grand Stade de Tanger to the Complexe Sportif Mohammed V stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, where the 2nd quarterfinal clash was being played between Tunisia and Algeria.

The Complexe Sportif Mohammed V in Casablanca was a seething cauldron of North African rivalry as Tunisia and Algeria locked horns in a gripping AFCON quarterfinal.

With over 45,000 passionate fans packing the iconic stadium, the atmosphere crackled with intensity and anticipation.

The Tunisian faithful, draped in red and white, filled one end of the stadium with rhythmic chants and beating drums, their voices rising in unison like a battle cry to send an army to war.

Across from them, Algerian supporters, proudly waving the green and white of the Desert Warriors, responded with thunderous applause and deafening whistles, creating a symphony of sound that echoed through the historic venue.

The referee didn't keep the energetic fans and players waiting.

FWEEEE!

Immediately after the whistle sounded, a battle started in the Complexe Sportif Mohammed V in Casablanca.

Two evenly rated African national teams duked it out in a battle to the death in the quarterfinal of the AFCON tournament.

It was a tight and extremely intense game.

The air was thick with tension as every pass, tackle, and shot was met with roars of approval or groans of frustration. The energy of the fans was high.

Flares lit up the night sky, casting an eerie glow over the pitch as the crowd's energy surged and ebbed with the flow of the game.

When a player darted past a defender or a goalkeeper made a spectacular save, the stands erupted in chaos.

Fans clutched their scarves and flags, living and breathing every moment of the intense battle unfolding before them.

The first half ended in a goalless draw.

The second half? It progressed almost just like the first half, both sides creating countless chances but never truly threatening to score.

As the final whistle approached, the noise reached a fever pitch, with both sets of supporters willing their team toward victory.

In this legendary stadium where history and passion collided, the spirit of North African football was alive and burning brighter than ever.

But, in the end, who would win?

Which of the 2 countries would burn brightest?

Tunisia did.

In the 87th minute, Talbi, the tall Tunisian center back rose highest to a corner kick, powering a header past Algeria's goalkeeper and into the net.

"…"

For a second or so, silence, then…

BOOM!

Tunisian fans across the stadium and around the world erupted in ecstasy.

The players celebrated like mad men, giving no care how they looked, the fans went mad in the stadium stands.

With 3 minutes left to fulltime, Algeria could do nothing and even in additional time, they could do nothing.

Algeria was doomed.

And once again, Tunisia did the impossible, climbing one step further in the AFCON tournament to the semifinal stage at the expense of Algeria.