Accra — Egypt's Pharaohs set a new continental record with a sixth African Cup of Nations victory against Cameroon on Sunday in Accra. Both teams ended the tournament with a beautiful display of sportsmanship and quality soccer.
Egypt, seen throughout the competition as the strongest team, lived up to their reputation by defeating Cameroon's Indomitable Lions 1-0. Cameroon, which Egypt had defeated previously in the tournament, stood their ground and offered a tough challenge, making it clear they came to win. But it was Egypt who first threatened the Cameroonian lineup, led by the powerful triad of Abutreika, Amr Zaky and Emad.
As early as the fifth minute, a free kick 25 meters from Cameroon's goal almost landed in the net. But goalie Kameni stretched over, pushing the ball out. Sunday's game included a match-up between the goalkeepers. Kameni won several face-to-face duels with Egyptian strikers, beating a close range kick from Egypt's Emad at the 40th minute.
Egypt seemed on top of their game, pushing harder and harder, forcing Cameroon's Alexandre Song to quit the field. For the first time, the Indomitable Lions found a team physically stronger than them.
Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon's top scorer, found himself isolated amid a tight Egyptian defense. His first clear shot came at the 34th minute, but he failed to score.
The first half ended with an Egyptian offensive, and Cameroon forced into counter-attacks. During the second half, Egypt's domination became clearer and they remained careful not to allow Cameroon to get too far with their counter-attacks. At one point the game evened out, and each team could have scored at any time. But again and again the goalkeepers did not falter.
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After an hour's play, the Egyptian fans in the stadium stepped up their vocal support, feeling their team's ascendancy. Egyptian assaults became more and more dangerous, but each time Cameroon resisted. Perhaps hoping to hold Egypt off until full time, Cameroon's coach Otto Pfister had Modeste Mbami replace Joel Epale. With 25 minutes left to play, the Lions had used all their replacements.
On the field, Eto'o was almost non-existent, and good passes to him became rare.
During an Egyptian counter-attack led by Egypt's Hasan Ahmed, Cameroon's captain Rigobert Song was forced into a tactical error by Mohamed Zidan, who managed to get the ball and give a golden pass to Abutreika. Keeping his cool, Abutreika sent the ball straight into Cameroon's net with a powerful kick (77th minute, 1-0).
Feeling their defeat near, Cameroon went on an all-out offensive, although Eto'o seemed hurt on the thigh. Cameroon's Stephane Mbia came close to scoring twice, but Egyptian goalie El Hadary kept good guard. In the end, Egypt's superiority prevailed and they fully deserved their sixth continental title.
