Democratic Republic of Congo advanced to the last eight at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday night following a penalty shoot-out victory over Egypt.
The match ended 1-1 after extra-time at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro.
DRC opened the scoring in the 37th minute through Meschack Elia after the Egyptian defence was slow to reconfigure at a Congolese throw-in.
Suitably piqued by the schoolboy sloppiness, the Egyptians pressed more urgently and were handed a way back into the tie in first-half stoppage-time when Dylan Batubinsika was penalised for a foul on the Egyptian skipper Ahmed Hegazy in the penalty area.
Mostafa Mohamed thrashed his shot confidently past goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi to restore parity.
After the pause, Cedric Bakambu flashed a chance just wide of the Egyptian goal and DRC skipper Chancel Mbemba headed over. But as the 90 minutes neared, Egypt finished more menacingly but could not find the breakthough.
Once Mohamed Hamdy was sent off for his second bookable offence, Rui Vitoria’s men appeared to accept that penalties offered a better chance for progress as they defended the Congolese bombardment.
Shoot-out
After each side missed their second kick, the next 12 players all converted their efforts.
Egypt goalkeeper Gabaski smashed his shot onto the bar giving his Mpasi the chance to win it.
The 29-year-old, who plays for the French Ligue 2 outfit Rodez, sidefooted home like a seasoned predator to spark the celebrations for the 8-7 success.
DRC will take on Guinea who beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 at the Alassane Outtara Stadium in Abidjan.
Mohamed Bayo scored in final minute of second-half stoppage-time to give Guinea their first win during the knockout stages of the competition since they reached the final in 1976 when the Cup of Nations tournament was an eight-team affair.
“This victory means a lot,” said Guinea coach Kaba Diawara.
“We knew the historic nature of the match. It’s a feeling of pride. It’s a group that we’ve built piece by piece and it’s a reward for them and also for us also the coaches.”
