Cairo — The Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire and the Pharaohs of Egypt will meet in the final of the 25th edition of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) in Egypt. The two countries beat Nigeria and Senegal respectively to qualify.
Côte d'Ivoire, the only World Cup finalist still in the competition have made it to the final. The players coached by Frenchman Henri Michel narrowly beat Nigeria at the Alexandria stadium. As a result of this semifinal victory, Côte d'Ivoire will play in their second Cup of Nations final ever.
The only goal was scored by Didier Drogba from an almost offside position, after receiving a superb long pass from Ndri Romaric. The Chelsea Blues attacker came face to face with the Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama and calmly slotted the ball between his legs (1-0, 46min). The Elephants ended the first half with this lead.
Upon resumption, all attempts by the Nigerians, bolstered by the introduction of Jay-Jay Okocha (his first match in this CAN) could not change the game. Côte d'Ivoire coasted to their second Cup of Nations final ever, 14 years after the 1992 victory in Senegal.
With the loss, Nigeria missed the chance to bring the cup home after promising to redeem its image when they were eliminated by Angola in the World Cup qualifications.
In the second semifinal, the Senegalese adamantly blame the referee for their elimination. Cameroonian referee Evehe Devine will certainly review the footage of the tackle by the Egyptian defender Mohamed Abdel Wohab on Diomansy Kamara in the 90th minute. Egypt was leading at this stage by two goals to one. The first Egyptian goal resulted from a penalty that was awarded after Fréderic Mendy, under no pressure, handled the ball in the penalty box. The Egyptian captain, Hassa Kamel Ahmed, sent Tony Sylva the wrong way with a powerful shot (1-0, 36th min.).
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The Lions of Teranga equalized the score with a beautiful header from Mamadou Niang off a long pass from Amdy Faye (1-1, 51st min.).
The Pharaohs, fearing a second goal, withdrew into their own half. Hasan Shehata's coaching gave the Egyptians the victory. Hasan Zaki Mansour Amr came in for Hossam Hussein Mido, who was angry over his substitution, and scored with a glorious header. There was nothing goalie Tony Sylva could do about the ball (2-1, 80th min.).
The substitutions of El Hadj Diouf, Souleymane Camara and Issa Ba for Senegal did not change the game, as Egypt was already well on their way towards their fifth continental victory.
