Essam El-Hadary (9): The 44-year-old brought back memories of his glory days after producing some superb stops to thwart the likes of Nakoulma, Traore and Bance at critical moments when Egypt were under huge pressure. He turned out to be the hero of the match after blocking two penalty kicks in the shootout to lift Egypt to the final. He also set the record for the longest run without conceding a goal in the tournament. Ahmed Elmohamady (6.5): The right-back struggled to contain Prejuce Nakoulma, who was able to penetrate his flank on several occasions to send crosses to the area. Known for his precise crosses, Elmo rarely pushed forward before being substituted in the 106th minute, making way for Omar Gaber. Ali Gabr (6.5): The central defender was not as good as he was in the past matches as he left Burkina Faso striker Aristide Bance unmarked on several occasions. He also allowed forwards to skip past him more than once, but defence partner Ahmed Hegazy made up for his errors with some vital interceptions. Ahmed Hegazy (7.5): Solid and sharp as usual, Hegazy was a dominant presence in the area and also moved a lot to the left to provide cover for Ahmed Fathi. The burly defender made some vital tackles to deny Bance and Traore from scoring. Ahmed Fathi (7): Playing on the left flank again, the natural right-back managed to contain gifted winger Bertrand Traore and also gave the needed protection to his backline. However, with the match going to extra time, the 32-year-old couldn't keep up with the pace of Ajax forward Traore who carved out spaces. Tarek Hamed (6.5): The tireless central midfielder seemed exhausted against Burkina Faso, missing a lot of passes against a compact midfield comprising Charles Kabore, Abdou Traore and Ibrahim Blati. He and Ibrahim Salah struggled to close down spaces, leaving the defence exposed on some occasions. Ibrahim Salah (6): Playing his first game of the tournament, Salah was clearly lost and out of form. He lost the ball twice in midfield, leading to dangerous raids on Hadary. He also let a cross from Traore elude him to find the unmarked Bance to score the equalizer. Abdallah El-Said (6.5): He started the game well, moving close to the ball and distributing balls to both flanks. But as the game wore on, Egypt sat back and the talented playmaker had to pull back to help his defence. He missed the first kick of the penalty shootout but, fortunately for him, Egypt won at the end. Mahmoud Trezeguet (7.5): With a great stamina, the left winger made tireless runs back and forth to help Fathi at the back as well as creating chances upfront. He had a good scoring opportunity early in the game when he his curling shot from the edge of the area narrowly missed the target. Mohamed Salah (8): The Roma forward was very active at the beginning with his forays on the right flank, providing clever passes to Kahraba and Trezeguet. But later on, he was tightly marked by Kone and Blati and also had to drift back to help Elmohamady in defence. He scored a stunning left-foot curler from the edge of the area in the 65th minute after being set up by Kahraba. Mahmoud "Kahraba" Abdel-Moneim (6.5): The forward was deployed as a striker due to the injuries of Marwan Mohsen and Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan. He made some energetic runs outside the area but his link-up play with Salah and Trezeguet didn't work well due to a lack of harmnony. He only had one attempt on goal in the first half but it was saved by the keeper. He will miss the final after picking up a second yellow card. Amr Warda (6.5): Coming on as a second half substitute instead of Kahraba, Warda played as a false nine. He was quite energetic but could not create any real threat on Burkina Faso's keeper and did not get enough assistance from his exhausted teammates. Ramadan Sobhi (7): A late substitute in the 85th minute, Sobhi made a notable impact. He provided the needed spark on the left flank instead of Trezeguet and also helped Fathi in countering the threat of Traore. Strong and talented, he helped Egypt keep more possession to ease pressure on the defence. He scored Egypt's second penalty in the shootout from a "panenka kick" just after El-Said had missed his effort. Omar Gaber (6.5): He replaced Elmohamady with 15 minutes remaining in the game and sat back to tightly mark the pacy Nakoulma. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
