Africa Cup of Nations Wrap Up 1.22.08

Nine goals today at the Africa Cup of Nations, four of them belonging to Egypt. The Pharaohs came out strong and tamed the Indomitable Lions with a 4-2 win in Group C. In the same group, Zambia made an impressive start by beating the Desert Hawks of Sudan 3-0.

Cameroon 2-4 Egypt

It’s not a shock that Egypt beat Cameroon. Egypt are the current Africa Cup of Nations holders and have a team filled with domestic and European based talent. What was shocking was the manner in which they beat Cameroon. There was no question who the better team was as Egypt looked more composed in possession and more incisive in attack. There were a goal up after just 14 minutes when Andre Bikey handballed in the box and Hosni Abd Rabou dispatched the penalty. Cameroon’s attempt to make amends backfired straight away, Egypt hitting them on the break with a great interchange of passes and Mohamed Zidan’s pace taking him clear to make it 2-0.

Cameroon kept trying, but the mix of random crosses and direct balls to Samuel Eto’o was predictable and too easy for Egypt. Just to make Cameroon’s half-time more miserable, Zidan did this in the 45th minute. Not too shabby, eh?

Cameroon came out strong in the second half and pulled it back to 3-1. But Egypt arguably had more on the bench that Cameroon, and brought the creative Mo Aboutreika on to pull a few strings. He gave Cameroon something to think about and eventually set up Hosni for this strike.

Eto’o scored that late injury time penalty, but the game was already over once Hosni had done that.

All six goals from the game can be seen here.

So now we have to rethink the favourites a bit. The myth about North Africa teams not traveling well to West Africa is not holding up at all, with Morocco’s 5-1 win yesterday and Egypt’s deserved 4-2 win today. Scariest thing is that Egypt can now welcome back captain and 2006 African Cup of Nations player of the tournament Ahmed Hassan, who was suspended for today’s game.

Sudan 0-3 Zambia

This was supposed to be the clash of the minnows, but after Zambia’s 3-0 win they now top Group C. Could be worse. The game was played at a much slower pace than Cameroon vs Egypt, so both The Indomitable Lions and The Pharaohs will expect to take six points from Sudan and Zambia. But we all know football isn’t that simple. Video of Zambia’s goals below:

The first from the in-form James Chamange is the best, both for his finish and for the excellent flick-and-turn pass from Jacob Mulenga. Mulenga scored the second with his head and Felix Katango was presented with the third when Sudan keeper Elmuiz Abdalla parried a shot straight into his path. It wasn’t all Zambia. Sudan were at least their equal in the first half, but just failed to take their chances. But the final score is all that matters.

So Zambia sit on top of Group C on goal difference tonight, with Egypt well placed in second and Cameroon in third.

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