Short of three star players, Egypt will meet DR Congo tomorrow, kicking off the knockout stage at the Cairo Stadium. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on Group A and B quarterfinals Now that the first round of the 25th African Cup of Nations has come to an end, the eight remaining teams are preparing to kick off the quarterfinals, which begin tomorrow. In the first game of the new round, Egypt, which topped Group A, will face Group B runners up Democratic Republic of Congo in Cairo Stadium. Then Group B victors Cameroon will face Group B runners up Ivory Coast on Saturday. Following a string of victories, Egypt and Cameroon qualified by default for the quarterfinals. Ivory Coast and DR Congo qualified despite the fact that they were both defeated in their last games. Group A witnessed a strange goalless draw between 2004 runners-up Morocco and Libya. In addition, Group B matches saw a string of red-card suspensions, leaving opponents playing 10-player games. While Group A ended with 11 goals, Group B finished with the highest score of 14. Cameroon's -- and Africa's -- best player Samuel Eto'o remains the top scorer, with five goals to his name so far. Also these two groups witnessed the loss of two world cup debutants Angola and Togo and the qualification of Ivory Coast. The quarterfinal will witness a payback match between the Elephants and the Indomitable Lions, as the latter are looking to take revenge for the defeat that prevented them from qualifying for the World Cup in Germany last summer. These quarterfinals will also witness the unprecedented threat that a team -- in this case DR Congo -- may withdraw from the championship if their allowances are not paid. The round will also witness the absence of star players owing to injury and suspension. Egypt topped Group A after beating Ivory Coast 3-1 at Cairo International Stadium last week, whereas Morocco's goalless score against Libya at the Military Stadium ended their hopes of advance. Both Morocco and Libya have now packed their bags and left. In the Egypt-Ivory Coast match, Emad Moteab moved Egypt ahead nine minutes into the game. Ivory Coast then took control of the ball for the rest of the half and Aruna Kone scored a 43rd minute equaliser with an astounding strike taken 25 metres away from the goal. But Ivory Coast was then let down by second half substitute goalkeeper Barry Boubacar, who conceded two quick goals, when he replaced injured Tizie Jacques Habrou. An early second half goal from Mohamed Abou-Treika, followed by Moteab's 73rd minute strike, sealed the win for the Pharaohs. Players fought hard to ensure a show down with four-time champions Cameroon in the quarterfinals. But Egypt will badly miss the performance of three of their top players. Tottenham Hotspur's striker Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam limped off in the first half with a groin injury, while star striker Amr Zaki was injured during training. "I felt a pain in my groin on Friday. It was alright before the game, but I started to feel it when I started playing," said Mido. "Unfortunately I must rest for four days, and I will therefore miss tomorrow's game." Ahli midfielder Mohamed Abou Treika will also miss the game for picking up his second yellow card in the game against Ivory Coast, after celebrating his first and Egypt's second goal outside the boundaries of the pitch. And despite their defeat against Egypt, Ivory Coast had already qualified for the last eight, after winning their first two group matches against Libya and Morocco. After the fateful match Egyptian fans rocked the stadium with joy as players and coaches celebrated the victory and the quality football played by the team. "I take my hat off to the Egyptians and the Elephants. They played superbly. This match was worthy of the final and not the first round," commented Egyptian assistant coach Shawki Gharib. Commenting on the absence of his start players, Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel said, "We had three players on yellow cards so I didn't want to risk them. So maybe in a week's time we will be happy we exhausted these players and kept the others for security sake." He added, "I thought we played really well in the first-half but the change of goalkeeper had an effect. Now we have to probably face Cameroon, but so be it. One has to face strong teams at the knockout stage." Morocco -- the Lions of the Atlas, champions in 1976 -- left the Cairo arena without a win or a goal to their names. In their opening match, they were hit 1-0 by Ivory Coast. They showed great potential when they settled for a goalless draw with Egypt. But with the hosts and the Elephants winning their matches, it was almost impossible for the Lions to advance. It's clear that they are going to have to go back to the drawing board to re-examine their strategy, following their failure to qualify for the World cup and their pathetic show in Egypt. Libya, out of African arena for 24 years, were happy with their return. Qualifying for the final stage was in itself a big step forward for the Libyans, whose last appearance dates back to 1982 when they lavishly hosted the event and reached the final against Ghana. Cameroon topped Group B after beating DR Congo 2-0 with goals to Eto'o and Geremi Njitap. In the other Group B match Angola could not score enough goals against 10-man Togo to move ahead of DR Congo on goal difference. Both teams finished with four points -- but Claude Le Roy's team qualified as they had drawn with Angola and had a marginally better goal difference. Although the final Group B games were supposed to start and finish at the same time, the Angola-Togo match concluded eight minutes before the other. And it was during the final few minutes of the game between Cameroon and DR Congo that the Congolese seemed to happily allow their opponents to keep the ball in their own half. Earlier in the match the Indomitable Lions had shown that even with several reserves on the pitch they were head and shoulders above their group rivals. The match was also notable for a blatant red card -- this time Gladys Bokese was dismissed for kicking Achille Webo. The Congolese goalkeeper could even have been sent off when he brought down the Cameroon substitute Webo, but the referee Koman Coulibaly only pulled out a lenient yellow card. Coulibaly had no choice but to dismiss Bokese after he kicked out at Webo after the two players had tangled. But 10-man DR Congo did not concede again to seal a quarter-final tie with Egypt, while group winners Cameroon face the Ivory Coast. "It is true that we did not finish the match well but we were determined to win," said Cameroon coach Artur Jorge. "I take my hat off to Cameroon. I am not proud of tonight. We have qualified through the back door," said DR Congo coach Claude LeRoy. "I am ashamed of what Bokese did. There is no room for that in football." Le Roy added that his team would not play their African Cup of Nations quarter-final game against Egypt on Friday if their allowances remained unpaid. The players are expecting $25,000 each -- $10,000 for qualifying for the finals and a further $15,000 for reaching the last eight. "If they are not paid, they will not play the quarter-final. That's absolutely sure, absolutely certain," said LeRoy at the team's hotel. Similarly the Simbas nearly boycotted their opening Group B game against Togo, which they won 2-0, over the unpaid bonuses for reaching the finals. But the squad agreed to play the game after LeRoy said DR Congo President Joseph Kabila made a promise that the matter would be sorted out. With the money yet to be paid, LeRoy said the patience of his players had finally run out. "There will be no quarter-final, not even if you applied all the pressure in the world on them," said the French coach. "But it's not blackmail. I've managed to keep them going this far but they won't go any further." Meanwhile World Cup finalists Angola and Togo have been knocked out of the African Cup. Angola beat Togo 3-2. The Angolans fought courageously but couldn't qualify. They finished third in their group behind Cameroon and DR Congo, who edged into the quarter-finals ahead of Angola with a better goal difference. The match was tainted by a red card suspension. Angola were given an advantage of 29 minutes when Togo were reduced to 10 men after Kassim Gouzayou was given a red card for his second offense in the game. "Obviously, we are disappointed that at the end we did not qualify for the next round even after we won the game and recorded four points," said Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves. "We tried to score more goals, especially in the second half, but luck deserted us. Now we will focus fully on the World Cup and hope to prepare for at least a month before the tournament so as to give a good performance." "My players did well, particularly in the second half when they fought back even when we were a man short. That dismissal really cost us a lot," said Togo coach Stephen Keshi, who will also concentrate on preparing for the World Cup.
