While Africa has only one representative in the women's tournament -- - Zambia -- the trio of Egypt, South Africa and Ivory Coast will feature in the men's competition as they seek to win the continent's first football gold medal in 21 years. History is even more against the Copper Queens in the women's tournament, with Africa having never produced a winner. "I tried many, many times with Liverpool, as did the Egypt FA, to persuade them to let Salah be a part of the Olympic team but they refused completely. "Mohamed wanted to play the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020; he talked with me, I did my best to bring him. Defeated by Egypt in their U-23 AFCON semifinals, South Africa then faced Ghana in the third-placed playoff -- which was essentially a shootout to reach Tokyo.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 16, 2021 07:30 UTC