Ivory Coast 0 Egypt 0 (Egypt win 4-2 on penalties): Hosts Egypt became the first country to win the African Nations Cup five times when they beat Ivory Coast 4-2 in a nerve-jangling penalty shoot-out in Cairo today.
After a disappointing 120 minutes had finished goalless, Mohamed Aboutrika was given the chance to earn the Egyptians their first title since 1998 after Didier Drogba and Bakary Kone had their poor spot-kicks saved by goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari.
And the midfielder did not fluff his opportunity as he sent Jean-Jacques Tizie the wrong way to spark wild scenes of jubilation in the Cairo International Stadium.
Egypt had squandered a great chance to avoid the penalty shoot-out drama when captain Ahmed Hassan missed a spot-kick in the first half of extra time.
The controversial penalty arrived when Kouassi was adjudged to have brought down Barakat inside the area in the 94th minute. Hassan’s resultant spot-kick crashed against a post, though, and the ball was cleared to safety.
Al Hadari tipped over substitute Bakary Kone’s fierce drive after 101 minutes while in the second half of extra time, Eboue should have done better from close range after he had run onto Kalou’s slide-rule pass.
The game went to penalties, Egypt seeing Hassan, Mohamed Abdelwahab, Zaki and Aboutrika score and Abdelhalim Ali miss.
The Ivorians netted through Arsenal duo Kolo Toure and Eboue but two other misses eventually proved costly.
In truth, the game should not have got that far, Drogba - who struggled to impose himself throughout - shot wildly over from six yards in the 77th minute with the goal at his mercy.
These, however, were the few stand-out moments in an often soporific encounter but Egypt will not care a jot as they added another title to their haul, which has seen them win in 1957, 1959, 1986 and 1998.
They also gained a mite of revenge over the Ivorians, who beat the Egyptians to qualification for this summer’s World Cup finals.
PA
