By the time Al-Ahram Weekly comes out this week, Egypt would have either advanced to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations or taken an early shower. Egypt has a good chance to go forward. It was scheduled to meet Ghana in the final match of the group stage of the cup on Wednesday 25 January. The seven-time African champions entered the game with four points following a win against Uganda and a scoreless draw with Mali. On the other hand, the Ghanaian team are the group leaders with six points and will advance from the group stage after winning two matches against Mali and Uganda with the same result, 1-0. Egypt needs only to tie with Ghana to go through. But a loss coupled with a Mali win would leave the two countries at four points, which would need goal difference to break the tie. The 1-0 Uganda win on Saturday 21 January was the first victory for the Pharaohs in host country Gabon. The Egyptians had to wait until the dying seconds to score. Thanks to Abdullah Al-Said and an assist from Mohamed Salah Egypt won three precious points. Al-Said, a substitute for Ramadan Sobhi, had just played 30 minutes but it made the world of difference to the Egyptians when he scored the winner with only one minute to go. For his heroics Al-Said was awarded the Man of the Match title. The 32-year-old Al-Said said he went into the match with the aim of being useful. “At half-time, the head coach told me I might need you to help with defence in the second half. I always prefer playing as a playmaker but when a coach assigns you to an additional task, then the player should do as requested. But I wanted to score and had an opportunity and when the chance came and I saw Kahraba passing to Salah. I called Salah from behind and told him I was coming and that is why he passed and I just netted it strong,” Abdullah told the Weekly, adding that he was glad he was named MVP. “I believe he deserves to be named man of the match. He earned it. He played 25 or 30 minutes, scored a goal and gave us the three points we were after,” head coach Hector Cuper said following the match. The Argentinian told reporters at the post-match press conference that it was true that the group had gotten complicated. “I think all groups are complicated, not only ours. We had a difficult game against a very tough opponent. Our qualification is not guaranteed, so we have to fight to the end. At the Africa Cup of Nations every match is difficult. I wish we could have scored more goals and had a better performance. I am thankful to my players for doing their best despite the tough circumstances, the heat, the humidity and the poor condition of the pitch. “I also respect the team of Uganda and commend them for their performance against us. Every game has its own strategy and we always adjust our plans according to our opponents, so definitely, our strategy in the game against Ghana will be completely different.” Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic, the head coach of Uganda, said that Egypt deserved winning the game because they were the more experienced team. “I want to thank all my players who gave their best and made their people proud. We came here to play three finals. We lost to Ghana by a penalty, lost to Egypt in the last minute and our ambition is to win the match against Mali and return home with pride. “At this level of competition, we have to be focussed at the maximum level. I believe we were perfect in the tactical aspect but we couldn't maintain our concentration to the end. We played against a very good and talented team. We are coming back after 39-year absence and we are learning lessons and gaining experience but in a very hard way,” Sredojevic said. The third round of the group stage kicked off on Sunday 22 January with GuineaBissau taking on Burkina Faso while Cameroun playing Gabon. On Monday 23 January Group B would have been finalised with Zimbabwe facing Tunisia while Senegal taking on Algeria. Group C concluded on Tuesday 24 January with Morocco facing Cote d'Ivoire and Togo meeting DR Congo. The top two teams from each of the four groups qualify to the quarter-finals which are scheduled to take place on 28 and 29 January. Two matches will be played each day on a knockout basis. The leader of Group A will face the second of Group B, whereas the top team of Group B will take on the runner-up of Group A. On the second day, the winner of Group C meets the second of Group D while the team atop Group D faces the second of Group C.
