Egypt's Mohamed Salah and his Liverpool teammate from Senegal Sadio Mane led their respective teams to the Africa Cup of Nations semifinal on Sunday.
Salah starred as the Pharaohs came from behind to beat Morocco 2-1 in extra time, before Senegal saw off minnow Equatorial Guinea 3-1.
Morocco took the lead through an early Sofiane Boufal penalty only for Egypt captain Salah to equalize early in the second half, following up to score after a Mohamed Abdelmonem header was saved.
Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal then tipped a late Nayef Aguerd header onto the crossbar as the game went to extra time, and the record seven-time continental champion found the winner in the 100th minute.
Salah made it with some excellent play on the right before his low delivery to the back post was turned in by Mahmoud Trezeguet.
"Our goal is to make the people in Egypt happy," said Salah while his coach, Carlos Queiroz, dismissed suggestions the Pharaohs are a one-man team.
"I agree that the best players need to show up but without the team that we saw out there on the pitch today it is not possible to win games," he said.
As he was leaving the stadium, Salah bumped into his Liverpool teammate Mane arriving for Senegal's match.
Mane set up the opener for Famara Diedhiou in the last-eight encounter but Equatorial Guinea fought back to equalize through Jannick Buyla early in the second half.
However, substitutes Cheikhou Kouyate and Ismaila Sarr then both found the net to seal Senegal's place in the semis and a meeting with Burkina Faso on Wednesday at the same Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the Cameroonian capital.
Burkina Faso defeated Tunisia 1-0 on Saturday to give some relief to a country rocked by the ousting last week of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore in a military coup.
Host Cameroon beat Gambia 2-0 in its quarterfinal in Douala and will now face Egypt on Thursday in a meeting of the two teams with the most Cup of Nations titles.
In the meanwhile, the organizers confirmed the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde where eight people died in a crush a week ago as the venue for the final.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) gave the stadium the go-ahead to host the second semifinal on Feb. 3 between the hosts and Egypt, and the final on Feb. 6 after lifting the temporary suspension of the venue where eight died, including a child, on Jan. 24.
"Having noted the recommendations and undertakings from the government in regard to additional security provisions ... the CAF Organising Committee unanimously agreed to lift the suspension imposed on the Olembe Stadium," African football's governing body said in a statement.
"The Local Organizing Committee and the government of Cameroon having significantly increased security and resources at the Olembe Stadium, (CAF) are confident that the safety and security of spectators and visitors will be assured."
The disaster happened prior to last Monday's last-16 tie between hosts Cameroon and the Comoros when supporters were caught in a crush at the south entrance gate of the stadium.
Thirty-eight people were also injured in the disaster. Witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that a mass of people was crushed up against gates at the southern entrance before police eventually opened them.
Hundreds of supporters then broke through, causing a stampede.
Cameroon's sports minister Friday blamed a "reckless decision" by security forces to open the closed gate for the tragedy and announced a raft of measures aimed at ensuring that the Olembe Stadium could be reopened.
Olembe, a 60,000-seat venue built for the tournament, was then stripped of the quarterfinal due to be played there, with the match instead moved to the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium also in Yaounde.
