Egypt make history, Ivorians signal intent

VICTORIOUS Egypt made African football history and Ivory Coast showed they are ready for the World Cup as the curtain fell on the Nations Cup.

Egypt became the first country to win Africa’s biggest prize five times after beating the Ivorians 4-2 in a penalty shootout on Friday, sparking widespread street celebrations to the sound of car horns. Though their best-known player, Mido, had watched from the press seats following a spat with coach Hassan Shehata, his team mates showed enough determination to send an 80 000 crowd home happy.There was consolation too for the Ivorians, whose captain and striker Didier Drogba had done so much to take them to the final but who missed their best chance on the day.Their young team, with Arsenal pair Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue outstanding at the back, promise to be tough, well-organised opponents on the world’s biggest stage.However, the prospects are not universally sunny for African football, particularly for two of their five teams at the World Cup – Angola and Togo, both of whom were dumped out in the group phase in Egypt.Neither look equipped to survive the same stage in Germany, while Nigeria, whose bright young team showed bags of potential, have even more reason to regret being pipped by the Angolans in qualifying.Togo qualified at the expense of a Senegal side who came into these finals full of bravado about making amends for their World Cup flop and putting smiles back on people’s faces.In the event, there was little to smile about as El Hadji Diouf and his side lost four of their six games, though remarkably still managed to finish fourth.Cameroon’s disappointment was no less palpable after the Indomitable Lions lost a marathon penalty shootout 12-11 to Ivory Coast.With Samuel Eto’o hitting a hat-trick in a five-goal haul during the group stage and his team then looking by far the best of the 16, the smart money was on a Cameroon triumph.Ironically, it was the Barcelona striker’s miss in the quarter-final shootout that allowed Drogba to rifle home the winner and put the Ivorians into a semi against Nigeria.Drogba won that for them too, taking their best chance of the game in a one-on-one with arguably the best keeper of the tournament, Vincent Enyeama.The fact that Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal all failed to reach the final deflected some of the criticism of Africa’s qualifying competition and a view voiced by Diouf that “the wrong teams are going to the World Cup.”Tunisia and Ghana, Africa’s other two ambassadors in Germany, can reasonably say they were plain unlucky in Egypt.Tunisia, with the neat passing game developed under former France coach Roger Lemerre and the assured finishing of Brazilian-born striker Francileudo Dos Santos, went out in the last eight on penalties to Nigeria.Along with those coming up, Egypt 2006 was also a swansong for some, notably Nigerian great Jay-Jay Okocha.It would also be a surprise if Egypt’s Hossam Hassan played in Ghana 2008 at the age of 41.- SupersoccerThough their best-known player, Mido, had watched from the press seats following a spat with coach Hassan Shehata, his team mates showed enough determination to send an 80 000 crowd home happy.There was consolation too for the Ivorians, whose captain and striker Didier Drogba had done so much to take them to the final but who missed their best chance on the day.Their young team, with Arsenal pair Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue outstanding at the back, promise to be tough, well-organised opponents on the world’s biggest stage.However, the prospects are not universally sunny for African football, particularly for two of their five teams at the World Cup – Angola and Togo, both of whom were dumped out in the group phase in Egypt.Neither look equipped to survive the same stage in Germany, while Nigeria, whose bright young team showed bags of potential, have even more reason to regret being pipped by the Angolans in qualifying.Togo qualified at the expense of a Senegal side who came into these finals full of bravado about making amends for their World Cup flop and putting smiles back on people’s faces.In the event, there was little to smile about as El Hadji Diouf and his side lost four of their six games, though remarkably still managed to finish fourth.Cameroon’s disappointment was no less palpable after the Indomitable Lions lost a marathon penalty shootout 12-11 to Ivory Coast.With Samuel Eto’o hitting a hat-trick in a five-goal haul during the group stage and his team then looking by far the best of the 16, the smart money was on a Cameroon triumph. Ironically, it was the Barcelona striker’s miss in the quarter-final shootout that allowed Drogba to rifle home the winner and put the Ivorians into a semi against Nigeria.Drogba won that for them too, taking their best chance of the game in a one-on-one with arguably the best keeper of the tournament, Vincent Enyeama.The fact that Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal all failed to reach the final deflected some of the criticism of Africa’s qualifying competition and a view voiced by Diouf that “the wrong teams are going to the World Cup.”Tunisia and Ghana, Africa’s other two ambassadors in Germany, can reasonably say they were plain unlucky in Egypt.Tunisia, with the neat passing game developed under former France coach Roger Lemerre and the assured finishing of Brazilian-born striker Francileudo Dos Santos, went out in the last eight on penalties to Nigeria.Along with those coming up, Egypt 2006 was also a swansong for some, notably Nigerian great Jay-Jay Okocha.It would also be a surprise if Egypt’s Hossam Hassan played in Ghana 2008 at the age of 41.- Supersoccer