Egypt’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign has been hit with another major blow after goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy was ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to a dislocated shoulder that he suffered during Egypt’s 2-2 draw with Cape Verde on Monday.
El Shenawy, who is the first-choice keeper for the team, was injured deep into stoppage time after he tamely parried a cross into the path of Bryan Teixeira, who netted to give Cape Verde a late draw.
Following the injury, El Shenawy was replaced by Mohamed Abou-Gabal, the same player who stepped in two years ago when El Shenawy sustained an injury in the round of 16 penalty shootout win over Ivory Coast.
The absence of El Shenawy, who plays for Al Ahly, is a significant setback for Egypt as the 34-year-old played a crucial role in helping the team reach the final two years ago, where they lost to Senegal on penalties.
Egypt’s campaign has already been hit by the injury of Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah, who suffered a hamstring injury that will likely rule him out for the rest of the tournament.
Salah is set to return to Liverpool to continue his treatment, and the club has said that he will work with the medical staff to get back in action as soon as possible for club and country, giving him the best chance to return to compete at AFCON if Egypt continues to advance in the tournament.
Egypt finished second in Group B with three points following three successive 2-2 draws.
The team will now face Group A winners Comoros in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Despite the setbacks, Egypt will look to put up a strong fight and progress to the next round of the tournament.
