Elneny's Egypt held to draw in AFCON opener

Mohamed Eleny’s Egypt needed a 97th-minute penalty to snatch a late point against Mozambique in their opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Pharaohs were expected to kick off their campaign in the Ivory Coast with a win against a side ranked 111th in the FIFA rankings and winless in their 13 previous AFCON matches, and Mo was named in their starting line-up to earn his 96th cap.

As expected, his side took the lead in Abidjan after just 90 seconds when Nantes striker Mostafa Mohamed netted a shot on the turn, and Trezeguet hit a post before the break as Egypt went into the interval the superior team.

However they were stunned on 55 minutes when a powerful header from Witi found the bottom corner, and three minutes later Mozambique turned the game around when Clesio cut through the Egypt defence to tuck home and threaten a massive shock.

The seven-time champions came close again when Hamdi Fathi flicked a shot against the woodwork and Mohamed Salah spurned a golden chance late on, but in stoppage time he made amends when Mohamed was fouled by Domingos Macandza in the area, and after a VAR check Salah just about netted the penalty via a kiss off the post.

By that point, Mo had been withdrawn from the action after Emam Ashour replaced him on 78 minutes, but he would have been relieved to see his side escape with a point against the minnows.

In the other group game, Ghana suffered their own shock when they fell to a 2-1 loss to Cape Verde, and Egypt will now look to capitalise on that when they meet the Black Stars on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Takehiro Tomiyasu’s Japan got their Asian Cup campaign off to a good start by beating Vietnam 4-2, with former Liverpool striker Takumi Minamino netting a brace to fend off the challenge of their opponents who found themselves 2-1 ahead just after the half-hour mark.

However Tomi wasn’t named in the matchday squad as he aims to build up match sharpness ahead of their second group game, which will be against Iraq on Friday.

Find out much more about what's in store for Mo and Tomi over the next month with our guides to the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup tournaments.