Egypt Are CAN 2008 Winners

Cameroon 0 - 1 Egypt

Egypt deserved their win in Accra, but Cameroon - who had held out well for the most part - eventually only fell victim to a simply suicidal goal...

Egypt are the 2008 champions of Africa after defending their 2006 title and lifting the hallowed trophy for a record sixth time.

After over 75 goalless minutes, Egypt finally managed the strike that they deserved on the balance of play, but one that came in such strange circumstances.

It was dreadfully ironic - not least for Rigobert Song - that in a tournament so laden with brilliant strikes and wonder-goals, that the most decisive clash of all would be settled not by attacking genius, but by opportunism and an absolute howler from Cameroon stopper Song.

To start with, though, things were slightly more even.

Within two minutes, Cameroon had pressed forward twice, with Eto'o blasting a header over the bar from close range after Geremi's fine cross, with the referee seeing no deflection off an Egyptian defender.

Egypt tried to hit on the break soon afterwards, but all too often their first touch let them down in the final third.

Mbia conceded a free kick six minutes in after a foul on Abou Trika just outside the box, and it looked as if Espanyol 'keeper Carlos Kameni was about to face his first test. This he did, but the stopper held Hosny's effort well.

Kameni had to be on guard again to keep Moawad's admittedly weak effort out seconds later. and Abou Trika had another effort palmed wide 12 minutes in.

Alex Song had to limp off with an injury on the quarter-hour, with Binga coming on, necessitating a reshuffle in the midfield.

It was an afternoon of long-range efforts, with Geremi clipping a free-kick goalwards from 25 yards, only for El Hadary to save, albeit without confidence.

Then, on the break, poor defending and some fine teamwork saw Motab go one-on-one, only for Kameni to save. Abou Trika then inexplicably blasted the rebound over the bar.

Egypt's play had been nervy all over the pitch, but as the 20 minute mark came and went, they began to rediscover their structured approach to the game, and thus appeared more secure both with and without the ball. Chatto had to be at his best on more than one occasion to halt these attacks with a last-ditch challenge.

Cameroon, meanwhile, couldn't find the final ball, with Emana of particular culpability when he fluffed a great chance to play Eto'o through on goal on the break.

After a spell of midfield play, Eto'o eventually did receive a through ball, albeit one that he had to take around Shady Mohamed. From his acute angle out on the left, he could only drill a shot wide of the far post.

Then came the best chance of the game so far. A tremendous ball over the top found Motab one-on-one with Kameni, only for the forward to hit the ball straight at the 'keeper. The rebound came the striker's way, too, but a timely intervention saw the chance disappear.

As the half wore on, it became increasingly cagey, with Egypt's long-range efforts now either flying over the bar or straight into Kameni's hands. As such, it was no surprise when the half ended 0-0, with the most notable moments being injuries, necessitating plenty of stoppage time in the heat of the afternoon.

After the break, Amr Zaki came close down the left, only for his narrow-angled effort to be parried and then cleared by Cameroon. The break displayed the Indomitable Lions' woes, as even though they managed to get the ball forward, Eto'o was without support, and was fortunate to even get a corner.

Egypt then enjoyed their own spell of corners at the other end, and one of these eventually culminated in a superb long-range shot that left Kameni, unsighted, scrambling to save.

The Pharoahs were beginning to dominate the midfield play, although a lack of a final ball was still letting them down, most of all when Motab should have found the unmarked Abou Trika in the box, but blasted his cross far too hard.

Motab then came off for Zidan, with the Egyptians intent on changing the game - and they so nearly did.

Hosny very, very nearly managed to break the deadlock with a powerful header - admittedly born of poor defending - but with Kameni nowhere, his far-post effort smacked off the post.

M'Bami came on for Epalle, joining Idrissou (on for Emana) to become the Lions' third sub, and Cameroon had to use what they had.

But the pace of the game was starting to decline, with only speculative crosses to Idrissou really rousing the crowd. Admittedly, one was a fine ball in from M'Bami, but the Duisburg man could only sky his header.

Then, incredibly, Cameroon threw it all away.

More accurately, Rigobert Song did. The defender, the former champion, the father, the emblematic captain, threw it all away.

Inexplicably, he dallied on the ball under pressure from Zidan, failing to snuff out an Egyptian counter. The Hamburg man, winning the ball with a tremendous show of strength, managed to play the ball across the edge of the box for the onrushing Abou Trika, who gratefully side-footed home into an empty net. Egypt deserved their win on the balance of play, but what a way to get it!

Cameroon had to think fast, but their cross on the break soon after conceding was easily gathered by the rock-steady Al Hadari.

They could feel hard-done-by a few seconds later as, right on the edge of the box, Eto'o and Shady both went up for the ball, with the Barcelona striker's overhead kick seeing the ball hit Shady's hand. The referee promptly gave a free-kick against Cameroon, presumably for high feet. Regardless of what it was for, the Lions' players and coach alike were disgusted.

Cameroon then managed to split the defence with some good passing play down the right, with M'Bia being able to get the shot on, only for El-Hadari to push it to safety.

Egypt had begun to show a bit of nerves, sitting back on the edge of the area, as Cameroon enjoyed their only truly creative spell in the game. However, even with corners they were unable to test the 'keeper overmuch, and Egypt set themselves up for the counter.

Here, they were caught offside as stoppage time began, betraying the level to which Cameroon had pushed forward. Yet again, though, there was no end product.

Egypt deserved their win. After a somewhat rushed and tetchy start, they regained the shape that has made them so tough to beat - and sometimes so impressive on the attack - throughout this tournament.

M'bia did well to hold up the ball in the box and try a snapshot with 90 seconds to go, but he could only sky his effort wide as the exhausted Cameroonians threw the dice.

Rigobert Song had the chance to become a hero just seconds from the end, but the captain - inevitably - could only head over the bar. The game was over.

Cameroon, meanwhile, were second-best for most of the game, but arguably didn't deserve to lose like this. When "real" chances came their way, they dealt with them. But if one gives away gilt-edged chances against champions, one cannot be surprised when they take them.

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.