Egypt, Ivory Coast in final
2006-02-07 21:26
Cairo - Hosts Egypt are to meet World Cup finalists Ivory Coast in the final of the African Nations Cup after both teams won their semi-finals on Tuesday.
In Cairo's International Stadium Egypt beat Senegal 2-1 - in a game in which Senegal were denied a blatant penalty in the dying moments, while Ivory Coast beat Nigeria 1-0 in Alexandria.
In Cairo the hosts took the lead in the 36th minute through Ahmed Hassan, who scored from the penalty spot after Frederic Mendy used his hand in the area to clear a cross.
To their credit, Senegal were never intimidated by the 74 000 capacity crowd that was cheering the home side on and in the 51st minute they were rewarded for their efforts when Mamadou Niang outjumped his marker Ahmed El Saka and headed home.
The Pharoahs however grabbed an emotional winner in the 80th minute when substitute Amr Zaki scored with a header with his first touch of the ball.
Zaki had minutes earlier come on for Mido, who at first refused to leave the field when ordered to do so by Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata and then had a shouting match with the coach before being restrained by Egyptian substitutes.
Senegal should have been awarded a penalty in injury time when Moustapha Kamara was hacked down in the area by Ahmed Said, but Cameroonian referee Evehe Divine waved play on.
Found the Chelsea striker in space
In the earlier game in Alexandria, Drogba scored two minutes after the restart when a defence-splitting through ball from Didier Zokora found the Chelsea striker in space and he slipped the ball past Vincent Enyeama for the only goal of the match.
Ivory Coast had the ball in the back of the net in the 14th minute when Drogba went around Enyeama, only for South African referee Jerome Damon to rule the goal offside.
Shortly before the break Bonaventure Kalou came close after being set up by Arthur Boka, but good defending by Everton's Joseph Yobo prevented the goal.
The Elephants had the best possible start to the second half when a defence-splitting through ball from Didier Zokora found Drogba in space and the Chelsea striker slipped the ball past Enyeama for the only goal of the match.
Nigerian coach Austin Eguavoen then brought on veteran Jay-Jay Okocha for teenager John Mikel Obi in an attempt to crack the tough Ivorian defence, but the Bolton midfielder was restricted to a number of long-range shots that goalkeeper Jean-Jacques Tizie always had covered.
The final will be played in Cairo on February 10, while Nigeria and Senegal will meet in the Third Place play-off a day earlier. Sapa-dpa
- SAPA