Egypt continues its build-up to the African Nations Cup today in the UAE where it is scheduled to meet Mali in the second of their friendly games. Inas Mazhar reports from Aswan where the warm-up began The Nations Cup holders Egypt play Mali in Abu Dhabi today in their second warm-up match for Ghana 2008. Today also marks the deadline for all the 16 African participants to submit their final 23-player list before the three-week tournament kicks off on 20 January. Following the match, head coach Hassan Shehata will submit the list to the African federation. The Pharaohs campaign to defend their Nations Cup title started on Saturday in Aswan, Upper Egypt. And it wasn't a bad start at all as the reigning champions thrashed Namibia 3-0 in Aswan Stadium. The victory culminated a useful evening for the pharaohs and the Egyptian fans in Aswan who were watching the match in warm, sunny weather. The visitors surprised the Egyptian team and the fans in the stands and those watching on TV with a powerful opening and threatened goalkeeper Essam El-Hadari several times. It wasn't only their attacks that were impressive but their speed, tight defence and fast pace. However, it didn't take long for the Egyptians to wake up and exchanged attacks. But then, for no apparent reason, the match turned to boring as the two teams gave a lacklustre display for the rest of the half. Shehata looked visibly upset and anxious on the sidelines, barking instructions to his players, all going in vain. Nil-nil at half time. Zamalek's Amr Zaki broke the ice, opening the scoring in the 53rd minute after receiving an excellent back-heel from Hosni Abd Rabou. Team captain Ahmed Hassan won his 130th cap in the match, and celebrated with the second goal. The European- based Hassan, who plays for the Belgium club Anderlecht, is up for the golden shoe award in Belgium. The announcement will be made on 16 January. The Egyptian veteran midfielder had led Anderlecht to the national league title. Zaki then wrapped up the win with a far-post header with only two minutes to go before the end. Following the match, assistant Egyptian coach Shawki Gharieb said they were happy with the victory and with the performance of the team. "We drew up a plan and the players carried it out. Of course, there were some mistakes at the beginning but now that we know them, we'll definitely work on correcting them before the second friendly," Gharieb said after the match. "We made many changes in the match in order to test all the players before we announce our line-up for Ghana. "We are trying to use different plans, but I can't say exactly what formation we are going to use because that will not be decided until we are through with all our friendly games." Egypt will complete its preparations for Ghana with a game against Angola in Portugal on 13 January. In Ghana, Egypt plays in Group C with Cameroon, Zambia and Sudan in Kumasi. Egypt's first game is against Cameroon on 22 January. The new head coach of Namibia, Dutchman Arie Schans, said the game was important to his team as it was against the African champions. "It was my first opportunity to see my new team playing because we only started our preparations just three days before the match, exactly on 3 January," Schans said.s "The players are young, an average 24 years old, except for one who is 28. But, I believe they are full of enthusiasm to achieve a good result in Ghana. "Next Saturday, we'll play our next friendly in Senegal against Senegal and that will be our last game before travelling to Ghana. We don't have any more time to train." Namibia will feature in Group A against the hosts, Guinea and Morocco. It is a tough group, and the challenge posed to Namibia was made even more difficult two weeks ago when Namibia's head coach Ben Bamfuchile passed away. The 47-year-old Zambian succumbed to illness in the northern city of Kitwe. Bamfuchile became an instant hero in September after Namibia snatched a 3-2 victory in Ethiopia to qualify for the African Nations Cup finals. The Brave Warriors' victory then left more fancied group opponents like the DR Congo on the sidelines. It was only the second time the country had reached the finals of the African football showpiece. The Warriors previously qualified in 1998, losing to Ivory Coast and South Africa and drawing with Angola. Bamfuchile, who had previously coached his own country, was replaced by the 56-year-old Schans who was on the coaching staff of Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai. Schans has also worked in Japan and in Bhutan, and in 2006 he was technical advisor to the Mozambique Football Federation. Schans joined the Brave Warriors for the training camp in Germany on 10 December and now has taken full responsibility of the team. In another friendly in preparation for Ghana, Zambia was 2-1 winners against Tunisia in a friendly match in Tunis on Sunday. While the result was a boost for the Chipolopolo ahead of the Nations Cup finals, Tunisia fans in contrast reacted angrily. Felix Katongo put Zambia ahead in the seventh minute, and scored again a minute later. Yacine Chikhaoui pulled one back for the Carthage Eagles two minutes after the break. Tunisia fans booed the team loudly during the first half and jeered some members of the team. Many supporters were in disagreement with coach Roger Lemerre's choice of players. Despite the introduction of Germany- based defender Karim Hagui and Etoile du Sahel striker Amine Chermiti, Tunisia was unable to find an equaliser. The two teams were scheduled to play again on Tuesday.
