Champions Egypt kicked off their Africa Cup of Nations’ title defense in scintillating style on Tuesday to restore some measure of sanity to proceedings in Angola after a spate of shocks on the opening two days.
Hustled out of a World Cup berth by bitter rivals Algeria in November’s play-off the Pharaohs arrived here with motivation aplenty.
And they hit the ground running with a 3-1 defeat of Nigeria to top Group C ahead of Mozambique and Benin, who shared the spoils 2-2 in the day’s other game.
PHOTO: REUTERS
After Angola’s sensational collapse to Mali, Malawi’s whipping of Algeria, and favorites Ivory Coast being held by Burkina Faso, Egypt took to the pitch at their peril.
But the six-time champions didn’t falter as they brought an end to a 33-year winless run they have endured against the west Africans with the goals coming from Emad Motaeb, skipper Ahmed Hassan, and substitute Mohamed Nagi.
The Super Eagles had taken an early lead through Chinedu Obasi.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Striker Mohamed Zidan said: “We didn’t give up. I think we deserved the victory.”
Egypt’s assistant coach, Shawki Garib, added: “The victory over Nigeria is just the beginning, we still have a long way to go and so we still need our fans’ genuine support and prayers.”
Nigeria coach, Shuaibu Amodu, said his team paid the price for some schoolboy errors.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“We played well and controlled the game especially in the first half but somehow we made some silly mistakes and we were punished,” Amodu said.
Later, Benin were on course for their first ever Africa Cup of Nations win when they shot out of the starting stalls to go two goals up in the first 20 minutes against Mozambique.
Their goals came via a penalty by Razak Omotoyossi and an own goal by Mozambique’s Dario Khan.
Mozambique’s Almiro Lobo reduced the deficit before the half hour mark with Goncalves Fumo netting the equalizer in the 54th minute.
Benin coach, Michel Dessuyer, said: “I have to accept this result even though we lost a 2-0 lead. We failed to defend our advantage and now we have to focus on the next match against Nigeria.”
His Mozambican counterpart, Mart Nooij, reflected: “The first 20 minutes was disastrous for us. After a good preparation, the players went into the game like a bull chasing after a red flag, but we came back in the second half and played a very wonderful game.”
The latest developments from Friday’s deadly attack on the Togo team bus centred on the arrest by Angolan police of two suspects wanted in connection with the machine gun assault which has cast a long shadow over the competition.
Burkina Faso, one of the three teams left in Cabinda where the attack took place, are desperate to leave the troubled province which has been the subject of a massive clampdown by security forces.
“We want to get to Luanda as quickly as possible due to the security question,” Burkina Faso’s assistant coach Gualbert Kabore said.
“We have to stay in Cabinda until Saturday morning. Organizers have taken draconian measures and to get out we have to be accompanied by security personnel. It complicates life,” he said.
Meanwhile, 2010 World Cup boss Danny Jordaan said that Angola was aware of the dangers of staging games in Cabinda and must take responsibility for the attack.
“How long is it known that there is a separatist group in Angola for many many years? What are the possibilities of a terror attack? It was known,” Jordaan said.
“It is a responsibility of the host nation to deal with those issues,” said Jordaan, who led a technical team to Angola in 2006 to assess its readiness for the tournament, on behalf of the Confederation of African Football.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS