Pharaohs
Jan 31, 2010
<b>Egyptians kings of African soccer again</b><br><br>Final<br>Egypt 1 Ghana 0<br>Third-place<br>Nigeria 1 Algeria 0<br><br>Egypt entered the record books here on Sunday, beating Ghana 1-0 in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations with supersub Mohamed ‘Gedo’ Nagy lifting the Pharaohs t
Egyptians kings of African soccer again
Final
Egypt 1 Ghana 0
Third-place
Nigeria 1 Algeria 0
Egypt entered the record books here on Sunday, beating Ghana 1-0 in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations with supersub Mohamed ‘Gedo’ Nagy lifting the Pharaohs to their third straight title.
Gedo, who has scored from the bench in Egypt’s last four games in Angola, came on in the 63rd minute and produced his magic with five minutes left on the clock to cement Egypt’s standing as the kings of Africa.
The win also gave Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata a history-making third championship and extended Egypt’s unbeaten record in the competition to an astonishing 19 games.
Egypt were unchanged from the XI that crushed Algeria 4-0 in the semi-finals save for the absence of suspended defender Mahmoud Fatalla - former Spurs midfielder Hossam Ghaly started in his place.
Fears that striker Emad Motaeb may have to miss the final due to a hamstring strain proved unfounded.
Ghana named an identical line-up to their last four win over Nigeria, with captain Richard Kingson taking up residence between the posts despite a late fitness scare.
The Black Stars made it to the final playing pragmatic rather than beautiful football, but they began in enterprising fashion, matching the Egyptians for speed and dexterity.
In-form striker Asamoah Gyan had an early shot go high over the Pharaoh’s crossbar and Serie A-based Kwadwo Asamoah had a long range effort safely scooped up by Essam al-Hadary as the supposed ‘underdogs’ counter attacked with menace.
Ghana’s best chance came in the 78th minute when al-Hadary did well to punch away Gyan’s lethal looking 28m freekick as Ghana’s youngsters had Egypt’s red shirts on the run.
Unbelievably with the game heading towards extra-time Gedo conjured up the decisive goal with a sublime 1-2 with Zidan down the left to slot an angled shot past Kingson.
* Striker Obinna Nsofor’s second-half goal gave Nigeria third place at the African Nations Cup after a 1-0 win over Algeria in the playoff on Saturday.
It is the fourth time in the last five tournaments Nigeria have finished as bronze medallists at the African championship.
* Benin referee Bonaventure Coffi Codjia has been suspended indefinitely by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after failing to take action against an Algeria player who head-butted him at the African Nations Cup.
A CAF spokesman told Reuters on Sunday that Codjia, also on the shortlist for the World Cup in June, did not mention the incident in his match report.
Final
Egypt 1 Ghana 0
Third-place
Nigeria 1 Algeria 0
Egypt entered the record books here on Sunday, beating Ghana 1-0 in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations with supersub Mohamed ‘Gedo’ Nagy lifting the Pharaohs to their third straight title.
Gedo, who has scored from the bench in Egypt’s last four games in Angola, came on in the 63rd minute and produced his magic with five minutes left on the clock to cement Egypt’s standing as the kings of Africa.
The win also gave Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata a history-making third championship and extended Egypt’s unbeaten record in the competition to an astonishing 19 games.
Egypt were unchanged from the XI that crushed Algeria 4-0 in the semi-finals save for the absence of suspended defender Mahmoud Fatalla - former Spurs midfielder Hossam Ghaly started in his place.
Fears that striker Emad Motaeb may have to miss the final due to a hamstring strain proved unfounded.
Ghana named an identical line-up to their last four win over Nigeria, with captain Richard Kingson taking up residence between the posts despite a late fitness scare.
The Black Stars made it to the final playing pragmatic rather than beautiful football, but they began in enterprising fashion, matching the Egyptians for speed and dexterity.
In-form striker Asamoah Gyan had an early shot go high over the Pharaoh’s crossbar and Serie A-based Kwadwo Asamoah had a long range effort safely scooped up by Essam al-Hadary as the supposed ‘underdogs’ counter attacked with menace.
Ghana’s best chance came in the 78th minute when al-Hadary did well to punch away Gyan’s lethal looking 28m freekick as Ghana’s youngsters had Egypt’s red shirts on the run.
Unbelievably with the game heading towards extra-time Gedo conjured up the decisive goal with a sublime 1-2 with Zidan down the left to slot an angled shot past Kingson.
* Striker Obinna Nsofor’s second-half goal gave Nigeria third place at the African Nations Cup after a 1-0 win over Algeria in the playoff on Saturday.
It is the fourth time in the last five tournaments Nigeria have finished as bronze medallists at the African championship.
* Benin referee Bonaventure Coffi Codjia has been suspended indefinitely by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after failing to take action against an Algeria player who head-butted him at the African Nations Cup.
A CAF spokesman told Reuters on Sunday that Codjia, also on the shortlist for the World Cup in June, did not mention the incident in his match report.