Amuneke hails Egypt super hero Essam El-Hadary

Essam El Hadary of Egypt saves penalty from Herve Koffi of Burkina Faso in shootout during the 2017 African Cup of Nations Finals Afcon semifinal football match between Burkina Faso and Egypt at the Libreville Stadium in Gabon on 01 February 2017 ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Feb 02, 2017. 10:06

Emmanuel Amuneke has saluted the five-star displays of Egypt’s Essam El-Hadary, while also praising the impressive showing of several other goalkeepers at AFCON 2017.

The oldest player at the AFCON at 44 years, Hadary pulled off two big saves during the penalty shootout on Wednesday night to propel Egypt to Sunday’s AFCON final.

One-time African Footballer of the Year and AFCON champion in 1994 Amuneke is currently in Doha, Qatar, where he is working as a pundit for Bein Sports, for cable television, Aljazeera.

"Essam El-Hadary has been brilliant even though he is the oldest player in this tournament. He has been the reason Egypt are now in the final,” saluted Amuneke.

"Fabrice Ondoa of Cameroon, Burkina Faso's Moussa Sanoa and Ghana's Razaq Braimah have also impressed.

"Goalkeepers have been exceptionally brilliant in this Nations Cup. And there is this feeling that specifically among the four semi-finalists, goalkeepers will play a role in which of them who will eventually be crowned champions on Sunday. "

Tonight, Ghana take on Cameroon to determine the team to face Egypt in the final on Sunday in Libreville.

By Sab Osuji