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Egypt beat Angola
to qualify for the semi-finals of CAN 2008
Kumasi, Feb. 4, Ghanadot/GNA - The Pharaohs of Egypt beat
their Angolan counterparts 2-1 in the quarter-final match of
the on-going African Cup of Nations (CAN), 2008 encounter at
the Baba Yara Sports Stadium Monday evening.
The defending champions, who beat Cameroon 4-2 in the
opening match of the competition and followed it up with an
emphatic 3-0 victory over the Sudanese and went on to draw
1-1 with Zambia have, therefore, qualified to meet Cote
D'Ivoire in the semi-final stage of the competition at the
same venue on Thursday.
The Egyptians who displayed total dominance over the
Angolans scored first through a spot kick, which was taken
by Hosny Aboudrabou Abdel Moteleb in the 22nd minute after
slippery Mohamed Aboutrika was fouled in the penalty box.
The Angolans accepted the challenge and also had a similar
chance just outside the penalty box in the 24th minute, but
when Mulenessa Norberto took a free kick and similar offence
of a handball was committed, the Japanese referee, Nichimura
Yuichi overlooked it.
The next host of the African Cup of Nations, who seemed
undaunted, continued to probe for the equalizer and this
rightly came their way in the 27th minute when Alberto
Mateus's long range left footer outside the box caught
Egypt's goalie Esam Kamal Tawfil El Hadary pants down.
Two minutes later the Angolans had a free kick a few metres
away from the penalty box but the impregnable defence of the
Egyptians warded off Norberto's shot.
In the 38th minute, the Egyptians mounted an attack and
Ahmed Fathy Abdel Meneim Ibrahim capitalized on a lose ball
and sent in a powerful cross which hit Amr Hasan Zaky
Mansour and was deflected into the net for the second goal
to end the first half.
On resumption of the second half, both teams improved on
their performance but it was the Egyptians, who were on top
of proceedings as they countered with swift inter positional
passes and close range shots but goalkeeper Joao Luis of
Angola denied them of any more goals.
The attack of the Angolans led by Mateus and Flavio made
series of incursions into the vital area of the Egyptians
but their attempts at goal were frustrated by the strong
defence of the Egyptians who remained resolute until the end
of the match.
Honsy Abdel Moteleb of Egypt and Alberto Mateus of Angola
were awarded MTN Man of the Match and Samsung Fair-play
awards, respectively.
GNA
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