This archive report was first published on 8 July 2019.
Published on July 8, 2019, Egyptian football fans were left reeling after their team's shocking exit from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Star player Mohamed Salah, who had helped lead his club Liverpool to a sixth European Cup triumph in June, was powerless to stop the Pharaohs suffering humiliation on the international stage for the second time in 12 months.
Salah's mood and fitness were in sharp contrast to this time last June when his shoulder was injured as he was wrestled to the ground by Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos in the 2018 Champions League final in Kiev.
Despite scoring twice in four matches in Cairo, Salah rarely looked at his peak surrounded by an Egyptian supporting cast far more limited than he is accustomed to at club level.
However, Salah also made headlines off the pitch after offering a degree of support for disgraced team-mate Amr Warda, who was banished from the squad over sexual harassment allegations only to later be recalled -- with Salah at the forefront of appeals for his reinstatement.
Salah faced a backlash from many users after saying Warda deserved a "second chance" and that "shunning is not the answer".
"I'm really sad. Nobody expected we would go out at this stage. We thought for sure our team would reach the final," said Mohamed Alaa, a 17-year-old fan from Cairo.
"We expected better than that, that we would win, especially given the competition is being played in our country. We are really disgusted," said Amr Kamel, 23.
The sense of shame prompted Egyptian FA president Hani Abou Rida to sack coach Javier Aguirre and announce his own resignation out of "moral obligation" just hours after the defeat, paving the way for a vast shake-up within the organisation.
