Egypt take on Kenya while DR Congo face Uganda in the semi-finals of the inaugural Nile Basin Tournament, Inas Mazhar reports In a one-sided game, the Pharaohs beat Burundi 3-0 at the end of the Group A first round matches while Uganda drew 1-1 with Tanzania to join Egypt as the second qualifier from the same group. The victory had given Egypt nine points from three wins while the draw raised Uganda's tally to four points. Uganda had lost to Egypt but beat Burundi 3-0. Egypt started the tournament strongly with an impressive 5-1 win against Tanzania in the opening match but could only beat Uganda by a single extra time goal scored by striker Gedo, hero of the Africa Cup of Nations staged a year ago. Egypt's head coach Hassan Shehata thanked God for the triumph while Uganda coach Bobby Williamson of Scotland was upset over having lost while being so close to snaring a point. Williamson said he was satisfied with his team's performance who he argued, were able to challenge the seven-time African champions up until stoppage time. "That goal only came because they lost concentration by the end of the match," Williamson said. In the final group match against Burundi, Gedo started the game, which the continent's most famous substitute rarely does. Not only did Gedo start but scored the fastest goal in the tournament 50 seconds into the match. Ahmed Ali followed with the second 10 minutes later, and only minutes to go before the final whistle, another substitute El-Sayed Hamdi netted the third. The Pharaohs were given a heroic welcome on their arrival in Ismailia for the Burundi match which was open to the locals for free, resulting in a full house. The two teams returned to Cairo directly after the match. DR Congo and Kenya qualified for the semis from Group B leaving Sudan to play for fifth and sixth place against Tanzania. DR Congo, the reigning champions of the CHAN African championship which is for African-based players, topped the three-team group after winning both games. The Congolese beat Kenya 1- 0 and Sudan 2-1 while Kenya beat Sudan 1-0 and lost by the same result to Congo. Kenya was disappointed after the defeat to DR Congo as they had desperately needed the win to avoid meeting the defending African champions Egypt in the semi-finals. The semi-finals kick off tomorrow at the PetroSport Stadium in the fifth district in New Cairo. The play-off match between Sudan and Tanzania will also be held tomorrow at the Police Academy Stadium in Abbassia at 2pm. The first semi-final match between Uganda and DR Congo is scheduled for 4pm. Egypt will face Kenya in the same stadium at 7pm. According to Mohamed Ali, EFA deputy executive director, the three-hour gap between the two semi-finals was in order to give enough time to see both matches in their entirety should the first game go to extra time. Security officials expect to face some problems because PetroSport Stadium can seat only 10,000 spectators, in addition to Friday being the country's day-off. Still, Ali maintained there would be no problem. "The stadium is far from dense crowds and second, the average spectator turn-out for Egypt's three matches was around only 13,000. We hope things will go okay," Ali said. The seven participating teams took Wednesday off and took advantage of being in Egypt by going on a tour organised by both the EFA and the Ministry of Tourism. On Sunday, the visitors were invited to an official dinner held at the Nile Pharaohs Boat. For two hours Egypt's guests enjoyed the Nile cruise as well as its entertainment. The final and the play-off for third and fourth place are scheduled for Monday in Ismailia.
