Egypt were crowned African Cup of Nations champions for a record fifth time after beating Ivory Coast 4-2 in a penalty shootout at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday. Egypt goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadari saved two penalties from Didier Drogba and Bakary Kone before Mohamed Abou-Treika slotted home the winning spot-kick. Both regular and extra time ended in a goalless stalemate. Egypt had an Amr Zaki goal disallowed for offside in the 85th minute and also missed a penalty when skipper Ahmed Hassan's kick hit the post in the 8th minute of extra-time. Suspended striker Ahmed Hossam "Mido" watched the game from the main tribune. This is the second time Egypt win the title through a shootout after beating Cameroon 5-4 in the 1986 final also in the Cairo Stadium. Egypt had first crack as Hassan set Zaki free in the Ivorian area but the latter's right footed drive in the 6th minute flashed wide and six minutes later Abdul-Zaher Al-Saqqa's free-kick shaves the post. The Pharaohs dominated possession in the first-half but survived late scares from the Ivorian Elephants before the interval. Al-Saqqa displayed some heroics as he challenged the onrushing Drogba who would have gone one-on-one with Al-Hadari from the edge of the area. Arsenal defender Kolo Toure shot wide from and close range after a corner-kick in the 39th minute. Al-Hadari made a brilliant diving save to deny a long range drive from Kanga Akale. After the break Egypt had two chances missed through Abou-Treika and Emad Meteb, both heading wide from close range early in the half.
Egypt captain Hossam Hassan holds the African Cup Chelsea striker Drogba wasted a chance to put Ivory Coast ahead late in the game. Drogba astonishingly blasted over the bar after Arouna Kone caught the Egyptian defense day dreaming and sent a low cross in the 76th minute. With five minutes left to play Zaki pounced on a loose ball and scored from a scramble after keeper Jean-Jacques Tizie fumbled Hassan's low drive. The effort was disallowed for an offside on Mohamed Shawki who was involved in the scramble. Midfielder Mohamed Barakat won a controversial penalty-kick for Egypt eight minutes into extra time sending the Ivorian players into frenzy. Hassan stepped up to take the resulting kick only to see his effort hit the post. Ivory Coast should have taken the lead if it wasn't for Al-Hadari who superbly denied Arouna and Bakary Kone on different occasions in extra time, sending the game into a shootout. Hassan made up for his missed penalty kick by scoring Egypt's first in the shootout while Mohamed Abdul-Wahab, Zaki and Abou-Treika were on target for the Pharaohs. Abdul-Halim Ali missed a spot-kick for Egypt. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak presented captain Hossam Hassan with the African Cup amid celebrations from over 80,000 football-crazed fans in the Cairo Stadium. Egypt have won the title in 1957, 1959, 1986 and 1998. Mubarak honors African champions Players dedicate victory to Egyptian fans LIVE: African Cup of Nations Final: EGYPT WIN : Egypt 4 : 2 Ivory Coast
