Egypt stun Ivory Coast
Drogba's Ivory Coast side were beaten by Egypt who will play Cameroon in the final
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Thursday, 07, Feb 2008 10:56
Egypt will play Cameroon in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations after a convincing 4-1 victory against the Ivory Coast.
The Egyptians took the lead in the first half against an out-of-sorts Ivory Coast team when Ahmed Fathi's shot squirmed into the goal after a deflection in the 12th minute.
Egypt doubled their lead in the second half through Amr Zaki in the 62nd minute and although Ivory Coast pulled one back a minute later with a great strike from Kada Keita, Egypt killed the game off with a third through Zaki and Mohamed Aboutriaka scored a fourth late on.
Although the game was expected to be close, Egypt dominated the first half and were given their reward when Boubacar Barry could not keep out Fathi's deflected shot.
In the second half Ivory Coast came out with fresh purpose and took the game to the Egyptians but were cruelly punished when a rare Egypt corner was headed home by Zaki after Didier Zokora inadvertently flicked the ball on.
Kada Keita immediately hit back with a fantastic strike from 25 yards which flew into the net, giving Essam Al Hadari no chance.
Again Ivory Coast pushed on for an equaliser but they were caught on the break when Arsenal defender Kolo Toure was turned inside out by Zaki who then shot into the bottom left corner from the edge of the area.
And then, in injury time, Aboutrika burst into the penalty area and smashed the ball into the top corner from close range after being played in by substitute Mohamed Zidan.