| 29.01.2010 |
Egypt’s dream of becoming the first country to win three consecutive Nations Cups got closer to reality on Thursday when they hammered the Fennecs of Algeria by four unreplied goals in Benguela.
If the Egyptians can talk of avenging a World Cup loss, their case was made easy by an Algerian team that was decimated by three red cards, including one to goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi in the 88th minute.
The highly awaited encounter became an anti climax when the Algerians amassed cards, allowing the Egyptians the numerical superiority that they could not cope with.
The highly charged atmosphere saw the match kicking off with both sides involving in cut to measure passes and sleek moves to the delight of the near capacity crowd.
The Egyptians where the first to go into attack, when a halted Emad Meeteeb thought he should have been awarded a penalty in the third minute. Three minutes later, a cross by Ahmed El Mohammady could not be connected by Zidan in the Egyptian attack.
By the 25th minute, the tempo of the game peaked. Zidan and Emad Meteeb returned to release what was considered a goal until Chaouchi defied the law of gravity to parry it for a corner.
Algerian defender Halliche Rafik picked up his first yellow in the 30th minute when he fouled Egyptian goalkeeper El Hadary, and with a second yellow when he stopped a goal bound Metteb, he was sent off by referee Codjia Koffi just as Hosni stepped up to convert the resultant penalty for Egypt’s first goal in the 39th minute.
The second half was a poor copy of the first as the Algerians, playing one man short, were completely deflated by the rampaging Egyptians. A drama occurred in the 63rd minute when five consecutive Egyptian kicks in one minute could not produce a goal in the Algerian box.
The much awaited second goal came in the 65th minute. Zidan twisted and turned Belhadj Nadir upside down before placing the ball beyond the reach of Chaouchi. Three minutes later, a frustrated Chaouchi lunged dangerously at Hassan Ahmed and was sent off, killing off any hope of a come back by the demoralised Algerians.
By the time Abdelshafi scored the third goal in the 80th minute, the Algerians had surrendered.
Playing with only eight men, they could not stop Ghaly from laying a through pass for Gedo to net Egypt’s fourth in the third minute of added time.
Egypt will now face Ghana in the final match in Luanda on Sunday, while the Algerians will remain in Benguela to receive Nigeria for the classification match. www.afcon.com
* Yours truly will be looking out to Ghana to prove their worth as they will soon be carryng the African flag at the RSA world cup in June. Go Ghana!
In the meantime, summer times are still strong in Christchurch as heaps of free events await us all. The Buskers festival is almost over, but do not miss a few shows in the city.
The ICC U-19 world cup cricket final pits Australia against Pakistan at Lincoln. Another must not miss match on Saturday.
In the evening, all roads lead to the newly upgraded AMI stadium where the Wellington Phoenix play Adelaide FC. This is the closest you can see the All Whites players before their June trip to RSA.
Then the ASB Classical Sparks is on next weekend, Friday at the Halgley park.
Being there is everything! |
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