The reigning African champions gave their Camerounian conterparts a football lesson on Tuesday, with a 4-2 score. The Pharaos, remarkable with their technique and control, have become one of the favourites of the African Cup of Nations.
Cameroun had a hard time believing its predicament on Tuesday during the first half of their match against Egypt. The reigning champions got an upper hand in the match almost as fast as Morocco did a day before gainst Namibia, when striker Zidan (Hamburg, Germany) showed how tough they could be in the 2nd minute. It was, however, through a penalty by virtue of an involuntary Bikey’s (Reading, England) hand ball that the Pharaohs opened the score (17th), by Rabo Hosni (Ismailia, Cairo).
Zidan drives the Camerounian defence crazy
Three minutes later they tried proving to their opponents that their earlier score was merited. On the attck, Mohamed Zidan accelerated passed the ball to Moteab (Al-Ahly Cairo) leaving Idriss Kameni (Espanyol Barcelona) confused. The striker from Hamburg who had missed a similar opportunity at the begining of the match took his revenge!
At 2-0, the Egyptians wait for the Camerounians to counter attack, but that was not to happen as, the Pharaohs showed complete mastery. The four-time African champions made short passes changing from one wing to another before arriving at their opponent’s eighteen under very good conditions.
Contrarily, their opponents contented themselselves with long passes, from the centre and wings, which hardly got to any of their targeted players. This led to Samuel Eto’o asking his fellow team mates to close the attack gap if they wanted to change the game. In the 39th minute, striker Binya replaced midfielder lillois Jean II Makoun… and it was exactly when the Camerounians started showing their worth that the Pharoahs score another goal. In the 46th minute, Zidan stopped a kick with a chester in the Camerounian eighteen. Caught in the middle of three defenders, he drops the ball on his left foot sending an ingeniously kicked ball to the upper left side of Kameni, giving Zidan his second goal of the match (3-0).
Insufficient Move
Second half sees Otto Pfister replacing M’Bia with Alexandre Song and N’Guemo with Achille Emana. Right from the first pass, the Camerounians showed determination and much presence in midfield. It was by pure logic that their work paid off. In the 50 minute, Samuel Eto’o takes the reins and leaves Al Hadary at sea. Eto’o, comes back in the 64th minute breaking the Egyptian defence, but his kick hits the Egyptian goal post.
Physically drained after a good first half, the Eyptians allowed the explosion to subside before going back to their style of play. In the 80th minute, Hosni hits a straightforward 20 metre kick ending the Egyptian scoreline in Kameni’s net. Eto’o’s penalty kick in the 90th minute was not enough to change the scores.
