Egypt looking to make history

NATIONS CUP FINAL MATCH :Cameroon v Egypt TIME :19 :00 CHANNELS : GS1,SS3 The mood here in Ghana wasn’t as somber as one would expect after the hosts failed to reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations. The Black Stars of Ghana gave their all, one would say they dominated the Indomitable Lions but just one lapse and they paid the price—heavily, if I may put it. Some people, including the country’s President John Kufour are ‘satisfied’ with Ghana reaching the last four, though some sections of fans have already started calling for the coach to be sacked. They are saying his tactical inept was the main reason for their team’s defeat to, like some are putting it, an ‘inferior’ Cameroon that they say only had one meaningful short on target, which was the goal. And as a result of Ghana’s failure to reach today’s final, don’t expect the atmosphere inside Ohene Djan Sports stadium to be as colorful because most Ghanaians are disappointed that they don’t see the reason to sing their voices horse for the mere ‘guest’. Instead of the host, two of Africa’s most successful countries Cameroon and Egypt will battle for who becomes Africa’s 26th champion. The reigning champions underlined their credential as Africa ’s best football nations with a sounding but more importing deserve 4-1 mauling of pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast on a night when everything went against them and everything went according to plan for the Egyptians. Everything the five-time African champions did went in their favor including their keeper who was in an outstanding form, pulling off a number of top-drawer saves including that reflex save for Drogba’s header at the start of the second half. After the win against Ghana, Cameroon’s veteran coach Otto Pfister revelled in his side’s success in reaching the Africa Cup of Nations final. It’s one of the highlights of my career, the 70-year-old Germany told reporters, before adding, but that’s the life of a coach, winning or losing. While his opposite number Claude Le Roy was left to rue his team’s missed opportunities, I was never as sad in my career as I am now. It’s a terrible disappointment to lose this game. I can understand how sad the people of Ghana are. Frenchman was without some of his key players including John Mensah, Stephen Appiah, Asamoah Gyan as well as Laryea Kingston who picked up a freak injury 15 minutes before kick-off. Going into today’s final, Cameroon will be minus defender Andre Bikey who seemed to lose his head in the closing stages of his team’s 1-0 win over Ghana when he pushed over a member of the medical team who was attending to team-mate Rigobert Song. The 23-year-old who players for English Premiership side Reading was sent off and will now pay the price for his moment of madness by missing the final against Egypt. The defender’s stupid frustration seemed to stem from the speed with which the medical team wanted to get Song onto the stretcher. The medical officials wanted to treat Song off the pitch, but with the match coming to an end, was the veteran defender using his experience to drag out the injury. But Bikey actions were unprecedented during a game of that magnitude and the 23-year-old will be no doubt cursing his actions when he watches the match from the stands and he would even be more frustrate if his team loses. Egypt, the most successful nation in the cup’s history, winning the tournament a record five times go into the final as almost everyone’s favorites but only a fool can rule out Cameroon’s ability to spoil the party like they did against Ghana. The two sides met in the group stages and Egypt came out 4-2 victors but that would definitely count to nothing as Cameroon would not want to lose to the same opponents twice in less than two weeks.Ends