ACTUALITE |
10.02.2008
Egypt confident of sixth title triumph
Egypt, the African Nations Cup holders, have surprised many by reaching the final again and see no reason why they should not go home with the trophy after Sunday`s final against Cameroon in Accra.
Egypt coach Shehata hopes to be celebrating a record sixth title win for his side on Sunday.
The two teams met in their opening group game, with Egypt winning 4-2, and their coach Hassan Shehata is confident that his side can achieve a record sixth title triumph.
"Cameroon are a big team but we`ve already beaten them in this tournament and this is a good sign for us to produce a good result on Sunday.
"All my players are motivated, they want to keep the title to prove that we are truly the champions of Africa."
Cameroon midfielder Stephane Mbia, who was their extra-time matchwinner in the 3-2 quarterfinal defeat of Tunisia, claimed that: "Losing to Egypt in the first game helped spur us on to the final. We started slowly and no one expected us to get this far."
Cameroon coach Otto Pfister, who took Ghana to the 1992 finals, said: "We`ve progressed match by match. Perhaps we started badly but we always knew how to react."
It is not the final that most people expected. Hosts Ghana and the Ivory Coast were thought likely to be the protagonists, but they were left to battle it out for third place on Saturday.
In the semifinals Egypt romped home 4-1 against the Ivorians, while Cameroon beat Ghana by the only goal.
Sunday`s encounter will be a repeat of the 1986 final in Cairo, when Egypt won on penalties, and they will go into this match with no injury problems.
Cameroon face an anxious wait to see if midfielder Alexandre Song will recover after being carried off at the end of the semifinal.
"The doctors reckon it`s not serious. It`s not a ligament problem," said Cameroon captain Rigobert Song, Alexandre`s cousin.
Cameroon will definitely be without Reading defender Andre Bikey, sent off in the 90th minute of the semifinal for pushing a medical officer who was tending a Cameroon player
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Hits: 1 | Source:CNN | |
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