Mohamed Zidan and Hosni Abd-Rabou made their African Cup of Nations debut a memorable one as they scored a brace each in Egypt's 4-2 drubbing of Cameroon in Kumasi on Tuesday. Hosni Abd-Rabou opened the score for the Pharaohs from a 14th minute penalty kick before Zidan added a double of his own in the 17th and 47th minutes. Samuel Eto'o threw Cameroon a life line six minutes into the second-half before Abd-Rabou sealed the win in the 82nd minute. Eto'o added Cameroon's second goal from a controversial penalty in injury time. It took the African champions only 45 minutes to tame the Cameroon Lions in the opening game of Group C. Egypt took charge of the entire first half and came on strong while the Cameroon Lions seemed feeble especially in their half. The Egyptians came on strong and surprised their opponents with a two-goal blitz within the span of three minutes. Zidan crossed the ball from the right flank to Abd-Rabou who cruised into the box and sent a low cross that was handled by Andre Bikey in the 13th minute. The Ismaili midfielder converted the resulting kick himself but Gambian referee Modou Sowe called it back. Abd-Rabou stepped up once again to slot home successfully after sending Idriss Kameni the wrong way.
Cameroon's coach Pfister was left overwhelmed In the 14th minute, Zidan orchestrated a swift exchange with Emad Meteb to go one on one with Kameni before notching home the second. Zidan, who plays for German outfit Hamburg SV, added to Cameroon's woes when he pounced on a poor clearance from skipper Rigobert Song to drill home a spectacular volley past the hapless Kameni. Cameroon returned from the locker room more refreshed and managed to reduce the deficit through Barcelona striker Eto'o who headed home from a Geremi cross in the 51st minute. The Lions took control of the second-half but failed to penetrate the Egyptian defenses. Abd-Rabou delivered the final blow to the Lions in the 82nd minute when he unleashed an unstoppable long range drive that ended up in the bottom left hand corner of Cameroon's net. The Cameroonians won a penalty in the dying seconds of the game when Mahmoud Fathallah allegedly pinned Mohamadou Idrissou in the box. Eto'o successfully converted the spot kick but it was too late for any comeback.
