African Cup of Nations Final/ Egypt 1 Cameroon 0: Egypt have strengthened their position at the summit of the African game after lifting the continent's top prize for a record-extending sixth time at the Ohene Djan stadium last night.
The Pharaohs have been the outstanding team throughout the tournament and, despite struggling to produce the kind of flowing football that has illuminated the past three weeks, they still proved too strong for a dogged Cameroon.
Sadly for Cameroon's talismanic captain Rigobert Song, it was his terrible mistake that presented Egypt with the winning goal on 76 minutes. The former Liverpool defender, who extended his record number of appearances to 34 in seven Nations Cups, was enjoying another fine performance until he inexplicably dwelt too long on the ball after intercepting Ahmed Hassan's stray pass.
Substitute Mohamed Zidan pounced on the error, robbing Song and then showing quick feet to slide a pass inside to Mohamed Aboutriaka from a prone position. In almost a carbon copy of Egypt's final goal in the 4-1 demolition of Côte d'Ivoire three days earlier, Aboutriaka arrived late before stroking a cool shot beyond the reach of Idriss Kameni.
The Al Ahly playmaker celebrated the goal madly, as though he knew there would be no way back for the West Africans, who had yet to threaten Essam El-Hadary's goal.
As in their semi-final against Ghana, the Indomitable Lions turned in a disciplined, workmanlike display, and the stifling tactics employed by their canny coach Otto Pfister rendered Egypt impotent for long periods. It was certainly a vast improvement on their opening match, when they were comprehensively outplayed in a 4-2 defeat by the Egyptians.
But if Pfister has got the four-time winners playing in a cohesive way, they still struggle to impose themselves in attack.
Lone striker Samuel Eto'o ran tirelessly once again but neither wide player, Joel Epalle and Alain Nkong, could provide the Barcelona striker with adequate support. It is a measure of Eto'o's class that he finished as the tournament's top scorer with five goals despite playing in a side devoid of creative talent, and the moment he tweaked his hamstring late on the game was up.
Egypt's midfield, in contrast, is full of schemers and they carved out the first chance on 19 minutes. The busy Hassan slipped Emad Motaeb clear, and when his venomous shot was saved by Kameni, Bill Tchato reacted well to prevent Aboutriaka turning in the rebound.
Unlike his four-goal strike-partner Amr Zaki, Motaeb has failed to find the target in Ghana and the Al-Ahly forward was denied again nine minutes before the break, latching on to Hosny Abd Rabou's beautifully-weighted pass only for Kameni to make another flying stop.
Cameroon, it should be said, were not helped by an early injury to Alexandre Song, one of the stars of their campaign. His replacement in the deep-lying midfield role, Augustin Binya, struggled to shackle Aboutriaka.
Hosny's long-range shot drew another stop from Kameni, then Zaki saw his header from Ahmed Fathy's cross bounce out off the post.
Given Kameni's form and Egypt's misfortune in front of goal, the defending champions could have been forgiven for thinking it would not be their day. The stylish North Africans, though, have not lost a Nations Cup game, including qualifiers, for four years, and their belief never wavered. The introduction of Zidan for the luckless Motaeb added more guile and the Hamburg forward's presence ultimately forced Song into his fatal mistake.
At the final whistle, Egypt coach Hassan Shehata broke down in tears, overcome after taking his place in the history books by becoming the second man to guide a team to back-to-back titles after Ghana's Charles Kumi Gyamfi in the 1960s.
The former Pharaohs forward has constructed a formidable team, and in a tournament that has shimmered with fine attacking play, Egypt's light undoubtedly shone the brightest.
CAMEROON: Kameni; Geremi, R Song, Tchato, Atouba; A Song; Mbia, Emana; Epalle, Eto'o, Nkong. Substitutes: Binya for A Song (16 mins), Idrissou for Emana (56 mins), Mbami for Epalle (65 mins). Booked: Atouba, Idrissou.
EGYPT: Al Hadary; Shady, H Said, Gomaa; Fathy, A Hassan, Hosny, Moawad; Aboutereika; Zaki, Motoeb. Substitutes: Zidan for Moeteb (60 mins), Shawkey for Zaki (84 mins), I Said for Aboutereika (89 mins). Booked: A Hassan.
Referee: Kofi Codja(Benin)
