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Hannibal Mejbri came off the bench to help Tunisia secure a memorable 3-1 win against Egypt in an international friendly on Tuesday. And the Manchester United midfielder ruffled Liverpool feathers by leading a mockery of Mohamed Salah after the visitors netted their third.
Tunisia travelled to Egypt days after booking their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations ticket with a 3-0 victory over Botswana, topping Group J ahead of Equatorial Guinea.
Salah’s Egypt were the favourites but were left stunned by Jalel Kadri’s side, who burst out of the gates and led by two goals after just seven minutes.
Aissa Laidouni opened the scoring just three minutes into the clash before a Hamdi Fathi own goal doubled the advantage.
Omar Kamal’s 34th-minute strike fired Egypt back into the game as Hannibal watched from the bench amid a restricted role for United so far this season.
But the 20-year-old took to the pitch with just over 10 minutes to play and led the celebrations when Hamza Rafia confirmed the triumph with a third in the 95th minute.
Cameras spotted Salah watching on while wearing an acceptant smirk as Hannibal and his Tunisia team-mates replicated the Anfield icon’s yoga celebration.
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Hannibal hasn’t shied away from adversity during his youth career and limited experience playing for United’s senior side.
One of his three United appearances came as a late substitute in a 4-0 defeat at Anfield in the disastrous 2021/22 season.
Hannibal garnered criticism from Liverpool fans after using his little time on the pitch to take his frustration out on home players, though his aggression was welcomed by the defeated United faithful.
Salah came out on top on that day, scoring twice to follow up Liverpool’s 5-0 demolition at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign.
But it was Hannibal who was laughing after Tunisia’s win over Egypt, who have also qualified for AFCON by finishing top of Group D ahead of Guinea.
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Hannibal now has 26 international caps to his name and has represented Tunisia at an AFCON and World Cup, an impressive feat at 20.
Erik ten Hag has kept him around his squad this summer rather than sending him out on loan after a successful spell at Birmingham City last term.
But minutes may be hard to come by in the coming months after Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat arrived during the summer transfer window.
United’s failure to offload Donny van de Beek and Scott McTominay has further inflated Ten Hag’s engine room, potentially leaving Hannibal as his eighth or ninth-choice midfielder.
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