Former Egypt skipper Taher Abou-Zeid gives FilGoal.com his take on the first round of the African Cup of Nations, his forecast for the remainder of the tournament and Egypt's chances of landing a fifth continental title. Abou-Zeid said that all the teams that made it through to the quarter-finals were frontrunners for the African title, with the exception of DR Congo. The 1986 African Cup of Nations winner also tipped Mohamed Barakat to fill in for suspended Mohamed Abou-Treika in the playmaker role against Congo. Here is an in-depth analysis of what Abou-Zeid told FilGoal.com: • All of the first round matches lacked real thrill with the exception of the match between Tunisia and Guinea, which saw the latter produce a stunning win over the title holders. • Even though the 2006 Egypt tournament is the strongest in the history of the African cups its matches still lacked competition and perhaps the fact that most of the teams that qualified for the quarter-finals managed to do so from their second match. • All quarter-finalists, with the exception of Congo, have an equal chance of clinching the African title and will show their real worth at the start of the knockout stage. • The quarter-final match between Cameroon and Ivory Coast will be an “early final” and a “true derby”, but will be highly tactical and the scoring opportunities will be rare. The Ivory Coast encounter will be the first true test for the Cameroonian team that is yet to prove its worth in the competition, because of the weak competition they faced in the group stage. • The winner from the Cameroon v Ivory Coast match will face the winner from the Nigeria v Tunisia match in the semi-finals, which will make for an intense clash that will leave the team that reaches the final exhausted.
Mohamed ABou-Treika • Despite Tunisia's shocking 3-0 loss to Guinea, which happened because coach Roger Lemerre gambled with a second tier team, the African champions are blessed with a great sense of confidence, derived from: 1- Their stable formation and tactics 2- The fact that they are the title holders 3- Their qualification to the 2006 World Cup finals • With the exception of Senegal's match against Nigeria, the so-called “group of death” lacked any buzz. • The Egyptian team is improving gradually and their chance of reaching the semi-finals have increased, nevertheless, they should not take the Congolese team fore granted. • Egyptian players have to make the best of the home field advantage they have, which closes the gap between them and any strong opponent they face. The Pharaohs will be very wise to take advantage of the tremendous support they are getting throughout the tournament. • Abou-Treika's absence will not affect the Egyptians against Congo, who are a weaker team compared to Ivory Coast and Morocco. Barakat is the best replacement for Abou-Treika, and I believe coach Hassan Shehata should play Ahmed Hassan on the right wing and Hassan Mostafa in the defensive midfielder role.
