The Pharaohs of Egypt have won their seventh Africa Cup of Nations and a record third in a row, Abeer Anwar reports A solitary goal was enough for Egypt to beat Ghana in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola on Sunday, adding to its unprecedented overall haul and setting a new record in the process. The crown gave Egypt its seventh ACN title, now three more than Ghana and Cameroon. The victory was also Egypt's third ACN title in a row, a record that surely will not easily be broken, having taken a streak of 19 matches without a defeat over four ACN tournaments. The win was also an opportunity for Egyptians to help erase the bitter memories of failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Egypt's novice striking sensation Mohamed Nagi Gedo broke the scoreless deadlock in the 84th minute after linking up with Mohamed Zidan for a sweet one-two which could not be saved. The goal made Gedo, the find of the tournament, top scorer of the tournament with five goals. Incredibly, he scored all five coming off the bench. The two sides had never met at such a stage of the competition, and had to wait for 53 years before facing each other. The final was not the best of African football, with both teams seemingly ready to go to extra time, even when they were still in the first half. Long stretches were played in slow motion with far and few glimpses of brilliance. Hours before the final kick off, one question on most people's minds was what would win: Ghana's youth or Egypt's experience? It took 90 full intense minutes of speculation before the reply came: experience won the day and the final. The Black Stars, depleted with injuries, including to Chelsea star Michael Essien, used eight members of the Under 20 side that emerged victorious at the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Egypt last year. Still, they did their best but never really tested Essam El-Hadari. Ghana is a four-time champion itself but its last crown was 1982. And it was not to be on Sunday 31 January. "We said it when we came to Angola and say it again" we are African champions," Egypt assistant coach Shawki Gharib said. "We played to win because we didn't qualify for the World Cup. Our strategy was to win all the matches. "This competition was the most difficult we have ever played because we played four World Cup-bound teams. But it's easy for us to win these tournaments because we have players focused and because of the amount of time we spend with them. "The players we have now are just about the best players of this generation," Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari said. "We think as a family and we are so happy that we have made all the people of Egypt very happy." In the battle for third place, the Super Eagles of Nigeria beat the Fennecs of Algeria 1-0 for their seventh Nations Cup bronze. After third place victories in 1976, 1978, 1992, 2002, 2004 and 2006, the Nigerians were visibly the hungrier of the two sides weighed down by the reality of a lost final match opportunity. The winning goal, a solo beauty by Obinna Nsofor, came in the 55th minute when he pounced on a loose ball, waltzed through a sea of Algerian legs before placing beyond goalkeeper Zemmamouche. With five changes on either sides at the play-off match, there was little to get from the encounter as the teams approached the match casually until the 10th minute when adventurous Obinna Nsofor darted into the Algerian goal area but his last minute attempt at goal was stopped by Raho Slimane. It was the turn of Algeria to retaliate in the 25th when Ghezal's effort was blocked by Shittu. On the dot of 45 minutes the Eagles could have opened the scoring when they tore open the Algerian defence only for Kalu Uche to look for Obasi instead of going for goal. The second half saw Nigeria intensifying their pressure and it nearly paid off in the 51st minute when a Taiye Taiwo shot sent Zemmamouche sprawling, only for Obasi to squander the rebound at point blank range. With the 55th minute goal, coach Amodu Shaibu decided to consolidate by bringing in Martins Obafemi, Osaze Odemnwigie and Mikel Obi and this nearly paid off when a shot by Obasi from the right flank nearly caught Zemmamouche napping, while Obafemi could not make it two in the 73rd minute. The Algerians also brought in fresh legs in Ziaya, Abdoun and Saifi but it paid no dividends as the Nigerians held on till the end. The two teams had to clash for a third place play-off after losing their semi-finals. Nigeria lost 1-0 to a young promising Ghanian team while the Algerians lost to arch rivals Egypt 4-0. The highly awaited encounter between Egypt and Algeria 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 Meteb thought he should have been awarded a penalty in the third minute. Three minutes later, a cross by Ahmed El-Mohammadi could not be connected by Zidan in the Egyptian attack. By the 25th minute, the tempo of the game peaked. Zidan and Meteb 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-Hadari, and with a second yellow when he stopped a goal-bound Meteb, 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 comeback by the demoralised Algerians. By the time Abdel-Shafi scored the third goal in the 80th minute, the Algerians had surrendered. Playing with only eight men, they could not stop Hossam Ghali from laying a through pass for Gedo to net Egypt's fourth in the third minute of added time. The Egyptians thus got some measure of revenge after Algeria edged it out of the World Cup in South Africa.
