Cameroon Undone By Magical Zidan

Cameroon Undone By Magical Zidan

Egypt 4 - 2 Cameroon

The reigning champions showed that they're no makeweights thanks to a tremendous first half goal blitz over Cameroon, with Mohamed Zidan front and centre...

A stunning strike from Mohamed Zidane saw Egypt 3-0 up against Cameroon before the half-time whistle, with even the second half input of Samuel Eto'o unable to rouse the indomitable lions.

The reigning champions thus proved that it's not only on home soil that they're a force to be reckoned with, while Cameroon will need to negotiate their way past Sudan and Zambia to secure qualification.

The Pharoahs entered the game with no small measure of trepidation due to the absence of star forward Mido - languishing injured in England - and suspended captain Ahmed Hassan. Cameroon, meanwhile, were essentially at full strength.

Egypt need not have worried, for within 20 minutes they were two goals to the good.

Cameroon's back line was clearly hesitant in the face of constant early pressure from the Egyptians, with Zidan and Shawky both having opportunities within minutes as the Indomitable Lions defence was cut wide open.

As early as the tenth minute it was clear that Egypt were in the ascendancy, although it took a further five for them to take the lead. Andre Bikey handled the ball in the box after Hosni Abd Rabou's cross, and while the Ismaily midfielder's initial penalty was ruled out for an illegal run-up, he made no mistake with the second attempt.

Just two minutes later, Mohamed Zidan started and neded a move that gave Egypt a deserved two-goal lead. He and Emad Moteab swapped defence-splitting passes, allowing the Hamburg striker to sprint forward and slot the ball past Kameni.

It could have been three or even four nil by the half-hour mark, with Kameni almost fatally spilling a Zidan cross and Fathi spurning his own chance to play a killer final ball, but to Cameroon's credit, they were beginning to see more possession.

However, they were unable to find the wherewithal to both break forward and keep it tight at the back. As their possession play failed to bear fruit, coach Otto Pfister took drastic action, replacing Jean Makoun in the midfield with Benfica's Binya, a more defensively-minded player.

While this did invigorate Cameroon, what happened next saw them hit by a sucker punch from which they could not truly recover.

Mohamed Zidan struck again, this time seizing the ball on the edge of the area, dancing around Mbia and then left-footing the ball into the postage stamp for what will surely be one of the tournament's more memorable strikes.

Cameroon rolled the dice at the interval, replacing Mbia and Mguemo with Alex Song of Arsenal and Toulouse's Achille Emana, and once again Pfister's alterations had the desired effect as the Lions strolled forward.

Their tenacity bore fruit 51 minutes in with a Samuel Eto'o goal. The Barcelona man showed why even on his quiet nights he's a force to be reckoned with by powering home a header from Geremi's pinpoint, curing cross.

Emboldened by the reduction in the deficit, Cameroon once again forged forward, with Geremi particularly active i nwhat was looking more and more like a wing-back role.

However, Idrissou and Eto'o were unable to connect meaningfully with his provision, while Pfister's understandable reluctance to deploy the central options further forward meant that chances were at a premium.

Egypt showed that they were far from over, though, as Moawad and Moteab began to take on more meaningful rolse, and with ten minutes to go they once again took a three-goal lead.

This wasn't a silky passing move in line with the second; instead, it was another wonder-strike to match the third.

And it was Hosni Abd-Radou who matched Zidan's two-goal feat with a thirty-yarder that sailed under Kameni to well and truly kill off this tie.

Cameroon tried for a consolation, but it seemed beyond them when Idrissou found himself stymied by a Al-Hadari challenge just as he was about to pull the trigger minutes from time.

But they did get that second goal when the referee awarded a spot kick for a foul by Fatallah. Samuel Eto'o swept it home past Al-Hadari, who had gone the right way but still found himself unable to meet it.

That won't help Egypt's goal difference, but if they perform like this against the group's other teams, it'll more likely be a question of how many they score, rather than concede. A fine performance overall from Egypt, and while Cameroon did fall victim to some excdeptional strikes, they were second-best in any case.