With a 1-0 victory over Botswana at the Cairo Stadium, Egypt took the last qualifying berth for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana. Inas Mazhar watched the game Ismaili's Mohamed Fadl opened the score for the Pharaohs 12 minutes into the second half of the match after both teams had played a scoreless first half. Fadl, who substituted Ahli's striker Emad Meteib, sent home a header that went past Botswana's goal keeper Modiri Marumo, giving his team the qualification ticket to Ghana. The defending champions topped Group 2 in the 2008 qualifications with 12 points from three home victories and three away draws. Fadl's goal reminded the Egyptians of their country's semifinal when head coach Hassan Shehata insisted on replacing the team's superstar Ahmed Hossam (Mido) with Amr Zaki, who scored a winner for Egypt as he touched the ball for the first time. The first half was almost a one-sided game played by the hosts. They held possession of the ball and were in control from the start, dominating the midfield of the visitors, who played a defensive game. Egypt's goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary hardly touched the ball and was watching the game just as the fans were. However, despite launching a series of serious attacks, Egypt's strikers Amr Zaki, Mohamed Abu Treika and Emad Meteib failed to score a single goal. It was nil-nil at half time. But in the second half, the visitors stunned the champions as they started exchanging counter attacks and for the first time after almost 70 minutes, goalie El-Hadary was tested. Luckily, the well-played ball by the Botswana forward was saved by the alert Egyptian goalkeeper who was taken by surprise. The Egyptians then worked on protecting their lead as time ticked away. They were now more confident, aware of the fact that Botswana needed to score twice to make it to the finals in Ghana. And when the referee blew the whistle to conclude the game, everyone was relieved and happy and the team celebrated in the stadium with the crowd. Following the match, coach Shawqi Gharieb said Egypt failed to score earlier in the match because the visitors played a very tight defence which made it difficult for them to score an early goal. "It was a tough game and we knew what to expect. Botswana had the motivation to win because they want to go to the African Nations Cup. We realised that and we knew it wasn't going to be an easy match, because it is a match between two teams from which only the winner will qualify regardless to their names, reputation and history, it doesn't matter, only the winner will go to Ghana," Gharieb said. "Accordingly, playing this way prevented us from playing an open game. We couldn't take the risk because it might have allowed them to score. So we had to wait for the perfect chance." "We also played with most of our players missing, especially the European-based players: Ahmed Hossam Mido was out for injury, team captain Ahmed Hassan was suspended for three matches, and the other players are not at their peak at the moment. We only called Middlesbourg's Mohamed Shawqi and Hamburg's Mohamed Zidan who plays with the national team for the first time. Abu Treika played with an injury so he couldn't perform at his best, and Mohamed Barakat also missed the game because of an injury." Gharieb also gave more justifications to Egypt's low performance and modest results in the qualifications. "I know Egyptians are not happy with the team, either for the performance or for the results which are considered unimpressive. However, at least we managed not to lose, with three wins and three draws." "This national team includes more than eight newcomers; it is a new team which we are preparing for the long term, the 2010 World Cup. They have never played against each other in the national team, so they play individually and this is a weak point which we will be working on solving in the future. But this requires long training camps. Since the Nations Cup, none of the training camps which came before the qualifying matches were longer than four days. This time, we gathered four days before the match and our training camp will last for 11 days until we play a friendly game against Japan in Tokyo on 19 October. That will be our longest," Gharieb said. Surprisingly, Gharieb announced that the real and serious preparations for the national team, which should defend its title in Ghana, will start on 25 December, 25 days before the tournament kicks off in Ghana on 20 January. "It is out of our hands, but most of the players are involved with their teams in various events. It is a very tight and busy schedule for Egyptian football. Ahli is playing in the African champions league final and if they win they will qualify for Japan. The national league competition is active, and the Arab champions league is also taking place along with the Pan Arab Games next month, where our national team will take part. But where do we fit in here? It will only give us 25 days to collect our players and prepare them for Ghana, during which they will not be released until the end of our campaign in Ghana," Gharieb admitted. On the other hand, the Botswana head coach said he was disappointed with the defeat as he had wished to make it to the finals of the African Nations Cup. "But we knew it was going to be a hard and difficult game for us as Egypt is the defending champion and has a great history. And I believe that I may be correct when I say that Egypt has never lost a game at home. We had to stick to defense or else Egypt would have taken the advantage and scored. We were unlucky, especially when we had that golden opportunity to score in the second half. I guess we could have scored that one. Anyway, congratulations to Egypt and best of luck at the African Nations Cup," the Botswana coach said. Despite being a decisive game for the home team, there were few spectators. The 80,000-seat Cairo Stadium only saw 7,000 spectators supporting Egypt in its campaign to qualify for the Nations Cup final defending the title it won in 2006 in front of a full-house. It was the first time since winning the African Nations Cup that the Cairo Stadium appeared so empty. But there were many reasons for the Egyptians' absence from the stands. It was the first day of the Eid Al-Fitr and most Egyptians were out of town celebrating. Some of the Egyptian Football Association board members failed to attend the game despite its importance, but were however keen to follow it on TV. Playing against Botswana was another reason as some believed it wasn't the team to watch and therefore would appear as a one-sided game which won't produce an entertaining quality game worth going to the stadium for. Also, it was a matter of confidence. For many, the five-time Nations Cup winners were considered certain qualifiers as they needed only a draw to clinch a place among the 16 finalists. But both those who followed the game from the stands or on TV were really furious as they watched the reigning African champions squander numerous chances to break the deadlock against rivals content to defend. In the same Egypt group, Mauritania, Burundi and Botswana collected seven points each in a pool that came to a predictable conclusion with Egypt heavily favoured from the opening matches last year to finish first. Burundi had to win a match played in Mauritania at the same time to have any chance of snatching first place, but were lucky to lose only 2-1 with visiting goalkeeper Vladimir Niyonkuru repeatedly coming to the rescue in Nouakchott. Pascal Corville gave the Mauritanians a first-half lead that was extended by Ahmed Teguedi just after half-time and Abdallah Imantona grabbed a late goal for the central Africans, who arrived less than 24 hours before the kick-off. In other qualifications, Namibia were the biggest surprise package, providing a fairytale finish as they grabbed the leadership of Group 10 with virtually the last kick of their campaign. Trailing in third place in the standings before Saturday's matches, Namibia could only go through if both Congo DR and Libya failed to win. And so it proved, as the two group leaders played out a 1-1 draw in Kinshasa, helping to leave the door ajar for the Namibians to sneak through. However, the side known as the Brave Warriors certainly had to live up to their nickname by winning away in Addis Ababa against Ethiopia. It was a feat they managed despite twice having to come from behind, grabbing two goals in the final nine minutes and all three precious points in a 3-2 triumph. The decisive goal came from 20-year-old Manu Katupose, whose identical twin brother Tara was also part of the Namibian squad. Katupose ran through on to a through pass from the Norway-based midfielder Quinton Jacobs, whose return to the Namibia side saw him emerge as the driving force behind their memorable win. South Africa, meanwhile, went in their home match against Zambia needing only to avoid defeat to finish top of Group 11. The match did not exactly run to script, however, with the Bafana Bafana crashing 3-1 after a comedy of defensive errors had allowed the visitors to take a three-goal lead within the first 20 minutes. Chris Katongo helped himself to a quick-fire hat-trick, leaving the expectant crowd in Cape Town reeling and coach Carlos Alberto Parreira furious. "Only the football gods could explain that," said the Brazilian FIFA World Cup winner, who had never previously lost a qualifying match at home in his long career. "The first 25 minutes were a disaster. This should never have happened." Even after Benni McCarthy pulled one back for Parreira's side, Zambia won the group in a head-to-head count of results, leaving South Africa spend a few anxious hours waiting for other results filter through before being confirmed as one of the best-placed runners-up. Tunisia also qualified through this back door after Sudan beat them 3-2 in Khartoum on Sunday night to take top place in Group 4. A pulsating game ebbed and flowed and two penalties attested to its physical nature as Tunisia lost their unbeaten record and also conceded their first goals of the qualifiers. Aymen Chermiti of Tunisia was also sent off with two minutes remaining. Cameroon's own 100 per cent record was also left in tatters by Equatorial Guinea, who until a few years ago were considered one of the minnows of the African game. A 1-0 win for the home team in Malabo came courtesy of a goal from their Spanish-based defender Juvenal Edjo and ensured the team known as the Nzalang Boys finished second in the group for their most credible finish to date. Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia and hosts Ghana have also qualified for the African Nations Cup tournament to be staged from 20 January to 10 February. So, now and after a dramatic qualifying campaign, 16 countries will gather in Ghana early next year to fight it out for the right to be the champions of Africa.
