Liverpool star Mohamed Salah concedes 'Bafana Bafana dominated' but the 'crowd' helped Egypt beat South Africa as coach Hossam Hassan hails South Africa for having 'many talented players' after Pharaohs' AFCON win

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has conceded that South Africa were dominant during their Africa Cup of Nations encounter on Friday.

The record AFCON champions registered their back-to-back victory in Morocco after beating the 1996 winners.

Salah, who was substituted late in the game and at a time when Bafana were pressing Egypt, has stated that the game was tough and that the crowd gave his side an advantage. 

"I'm very happy with the result, for sure. It was a tough game; they dominated most of the time. It's a team that can keep the ball for a long time, so I think we had a good game plan; it worked," Salah said after the game.

"We walked away with the three points; it's the most important thing. The atmosphere is incredible. It was a difficult game. The crowd was big in the stadium, and that helped us a lot.

"Hopefully, we can carry on like this," he added.

Egyptian head coach Hossam Hassan, on the other hand, said that South Africa have very good players and said they knew the COSAFA nation was going to give them a tough challenge.

"We knew it would be difficult; Bafana Bafana have many talented players. Since the draw was held in Morocco, we knew the game against South Africa would be difficult, as they have many talented players,” Hossam said after the game.

“We played the game against Zimbabwe as a final, managing a comeback and a win. Today, we played a full half with only ten players and still secured the victory.

“I thank all the players for executing our tactics well and closing down South Africa's players effectively," he added.

“I am happy that we don’t rely on a static tactic; we adapt our approach for every game."

The decisions made by the referee continue to dominate the AFCON debate, and one of the Bafana stars to break his silence over the matter is Ronwen Williams.

The Premier Soccer League champion with Mamelodi Sundowns said his teammates are disappointed because of the decisions.

"We are disappointed. The objective in the game was not to lose. We wanted to win or at least get a point to secure qualification, but it wasn’t to be," the Bafana skipper said. 

“We feel a bit hard done by because of the decisions made on the field. We feel it was a soft penalty, and obviously, when you look at what happened on the other side towards the end, we should have gotten a penalty. But that is how football is. We take the lessons and the good things and move on, continuing to believe in this team.  

“We knew they would sit deep because they were a man down. They were just defending their box. We created a few half-chances and some decent chances, but it wasn’t to be," he added.

“We knew they would sit deep and not give us space behind, and that is what we look for. There are a lot of lessons to take, and we will grow from this."

Apart from the decision by the official, Williams said that they were surprised Egypt came up with a more defensive approach, which they did not expect.

“The performance was amazing. They came with a different approach, and we didn’t expect a back five. They also put a lot of numbers in midfield, so the first 10 minutes were about adjusting," the experienced South African goalkeeper said. 

“The fight and the never-say-die attitude were there. We left everything on the field; we just couldn’t get the goal. I am proud of these boys. We showed we can compete against the best. Now it’s about looking forward to the next game on Monday. We will definitely qualify.”

South Africa will now face Zimbabwe in a do-or-die last group encounter on Monday.