Today in Africa Cup of Nations history

On this day 10 February 1957 (Exactly 64 years ago today) History was made when Egypt beat Sudan 2-1 in the first match of the inaugural Africa Cup of Nations finals at the Municipal Stadium in Khartoum, Sudan.

Raafat Ateya was the first to score a goal in the history of the AFCON after scoring in the 21st minute for the Pharaohs.

Ethiopian referee Gebeyehu Doube was the first to officiate a match in the biennial tournament.

Match Summary

Venue: Municipal Stadium, Khartoum

Semifinals

Egypt 2-1 Sudan

Scorers:

Egypt: Raafat Ateya 21? Pen / Mohamed Diab El-Attar “Diba” 72?

Sudan: Boraî Ahmed Al-Bashir 58?

Egyptian Line Up: Paraskos Trimeritis / Nour El-Dali / Mosaad Daoud / Rifaat El-Fanageely / Rafaat Ateya / Samir Qotb / Ibrahim Tawfik / Mohamed Diab El-Attar “Diba” / Beedho / Alaa El-Hamouly / Hamdi Abdel Fattah

Sudanese Line Up: Faysal / Osman Dim / Boraî Selim / Ibrahim El-Kabir / Hedi Syam / Sayed Mostafa / Cheri / Boraî Bashir / Abu Aîla / Seddeek Manzul / Hajjaj Agab

Referee: Gebeyehu Doube (Ethiopia)

Attendance: 30000

Elsewhere; On this day 10 February 2002 (Exactly 19 ago today) Camyearseroon retained their African Nations Cup title in a pulsating encounter with Senegal which ended in a penalty shoot-out after extra-time.

The match went to penalties after the two sides were deadlocked at 0-0 after 120 minutes of end-to-end football.

Despite the lack of goals, it was the highly-skilled affair that many had hoped for the final, with both sides having their share of chances.

In the end, it was the Senegalese captain Aliou Cisse who had to bear the brunt of the defeat as his missed penalty sent the trophy back to Cameroon for the fourth time.

Not since Ghana in 1965 had any team successfully defended their title.

Cameroon was, in the end, the most deserving of the victory but it was Senegal who started the stronger.

Henri Camara almost put them ahead after just four minutes, picking up an El Hadj Diouf pass in the box but with only the keeper to beat, sent his shot over the bar.

It was the first of a number of chances for the Lions who were the better of the two sides for most of the first spell.

Cameroon though ended the half strongly, with Patrick Mboma’s replacement Pius Ndiefi, going close.

Samuel Eto’o Fils found the back of the net with two minutes of the half remaining only to have the goal disallowed for a foul on the Senegalese goalkeeper Tony Sylva.

Senegal’s defence continued to struggle with the pace of Eto’o and Ndiefi in the second spell.

However, the then Sedan striker missed two easy chances for his team which would have concluded the tie.

The first came midway through the second half as he ran around his marker but with only the keeper to beat, slammed his shot into the left-hand post.

Then seven minutes into extra-time, with an easy header on the far post, his finishing deserted him again.
It was no surprise when the striker was brought off soon after.

The remainder of extra-time was a scrappy affair as the frustration of both sides began to show.

Sylva kept his side in it with seconds remaining, coming off his line to block Eto’o Fils’ shot.

Both sides looked depleted as the whistle signalled the match would be decided on penalties.

And the tension showed early on as Sylva dived to his right to save Pierre Wome’s spot-kick and give Senegal the advantage.

Boukar got his hands on Ferdinand Coly’s effort but poured it into his own net.

Patrick Suffo, Khalilou Fadiga, and Lauren Meyer all made no mistake, before Boukar levelled it for Cameroon, stopping Moustapha Faye’s effort.

Geremi Njitap put the Indomitable Lions ahead for the first time and as Diouf missed Senegal’s hearts sank.

Sylva saved Rigobert Song’s effort, but it proved futile as Cisse missed his and crumbled to the ground in tears, sparking a riot of Cameroon celebration. Cameroon won 3-2 on penalties.

Referees: Gamal Mahmoud Ahmed El Ghandour (EGY)

Farag Wahig (EGY)

Brighton Mudzamiri (ZIM)

Penalties sequence: P.Wome (0-0, saved), F.Coly (0-1), P.Suffo (1-1), K.Fadiga (1-2), L.Etame-Mayer (2-2), A.Faye (2-2, saved), G.Njitap (3-2), E.Diouf (3-2, missed), R.Song (3-2, saved), A.Cisse (3-2, saved)

Cameroon Line-up : 1-A.Boukar; 5-R.Kalla, 4-R.Song, 2-B.Tchato, 8-G.Njitap, 12-L.Etame-Mayer, 17-M.Foe, 20-S.Olembe, 3-P.Wome, 11-P.Ndiefi (19-P.Suffo 105), 9-S.Eto’o

Senegal Line-up : 1-T.Sylva; 17-F.Coly, 13-L.Diatta, 6-A.Cisse, 2-O.Daf, 22-A.Ndiaye (14-M.Ndiaye 46), 15-S.Diao, 19-P.B.Diop (12-A.Faye 91), 10-K.Fadiga, 7-H.Camara (9-S.Camara 106), 11-E.Diouf.

On this day 10 February 2006 (Exactly 15 years ago today) Egypt won the African Cup of Nations for a record fifth time by beating Ivory Coast 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw in the final in Cairo.

Goalkeeper Essam Al Hadary was the hero for the hosts, saving two penalty kicks, while Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba and Bakary Kone missed theirs.

The match ended 0-0 after 120 minutes, with Drogba missing the Ivorians’ best chance in regulation time.

Mohammed Aboutrika scored the winning penalty for the North Africans.

But Egypt’s Pharaohs could have won it in extra-time had their captain Ahmed Hassan not struck the post after being awarded one of the most controversial penalties in Nations Cup history.

Tunisian referee Mourad Daami awarded the spot-kick after Egypt’s Mohamed Barakat fell in the box, even though the challenge from Blaise Kossi Kouassi had both players going for the ball.

Despite facing a hostile home crowd of 75,000 in the Cairo International Stadium, the Ivorians stuck to the task at hand and were fully competitive throughout the match.

Chances were few and far between in the first half-hour, as both sides struggled to create anything in the final third of the pitch.

Amr Zaki, the hero of Egypt’s semi-final victory over Senegal, came closest to breaking the deadlock for the hosts in the 34th minute with a neatly struck half-volley.

But five minutes later, the Pharaohs were fortunate not to go behind when Kolo Toure’s effort missed the target by a whisker, following a corner.

In a pulsating 10-minute spell after the break, Egypt had the opportunity to take the lead but both Mohamed Aboutrika and Emad Moteab missed with free headers.

As the second period wore on, the Elephants regained their focus and created anxiety on the terraces by taking the game to the Egyptians.

But when Arouna Kone found Drogba with a delightful pass in the 76th minute, the Chelsea forward somehow contrived to scoop the ball over with the goal gaping.

With seven minutes remaining, the hosts had the ball in the back of the net after a goalmouth melee but Zaki’s effort was ruled out by the referee.

With the 0-0 scoreline unchanged after 120 minutes of play, the penalty shoot-out begun with both captains taking their kicks.

But while Egypt’s Ahmed Hassan scored his, Drogba’s was saved by El Hadary, and bitter disappointment followed for the Ivorians.

The euphoric scenes that were played out by the hosts after the winning penalty by Aboutrika were in stark contrast to the shattered Ivory Coast players and their 200 fans who trudged off the pitch in disbelief.

Egypt coach Hassan Shehata: “The goal Zaki scored late in the normal time should have stood because there was nothing wrong with it and when we again lost the penalty in extra time, I was beginning to think, it was not going to be our day.

“Thank God we were luckier during the penalty shoot-out.

“Ivory Coast are a very good team but we knew them well after we played against them thrice in recent times so we were able to know their strong and weak points.”

Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel: “It’s a pity we were not far from winning this tournament but when you got the chances we had, you are not supposed to miss them.

“If Drogba had scored, it would have been over for Egypt.

“If you look at the overall tournament, we deserved to have won it.”

“The penalty against us was like that against Senegal, a robbery, but still they were not able to convert it.”

Ref: Mourad Daami (Tunisia)

EGY: 1-Essam El-Hadary; 4-Ibrahim Said (14-Abdelhalim Ali 113),5-Abdelzaher El-Saqqa, 20-Wael Gomaa (7-Ahmed Fathi 21),3-Mohamed Abdel Wahab; 12-Mohamed Barakat, 11-Mohamed Shawki, 22-Mohamed Aboutraika, 17-Ahmed Hassan ©?; 10-Emad Moteab (6-Hassan Moustafa 82), 19-Amr Zaki.

CIV: 1-Jean-Jacques Tizie; 21-Emmanuel Eboue, 4-Kolo Toure, 6-Blaise
Kouassi, 3-Arthur Boka; 5-Didier Zokora, 19-Yaya Toure (14-Bakary Kone 91),
7-Emerse Fae, 2-Kanga Akale (8-Bonaventure Kalou 61);9-Arouna Kone, 11-Didier Drogba ©?.

On this day 10 February 2008 (Exactly 13 years ago today) The Egyptian national football team became Africa Cup of Nations champions for the sixth time in the history of the competition by beating the national team of Cameroon 1-0 in the Ohene Djan Stadium, Ghana.

Mohamed Aboutreika scored the only goal in the game in the 77th minute after Cameroon failed to clear the ball from their area under a period of heavy attacking play. This was Aboutreika’s 34th international goal for his country and was driven into the bottom corner of the net from a distance of 16yds.

Ref: Coffi Codjia (Benin).

CMR: 1-Idriss Carlos Kameni; 3-Bill Tchato, 8-Geremi Njitap, 4-Rigobert
Song ©?, 5-Timothee Atouba; 10-Achille Emana (17-Mohamadou Idrissou
55), 15-Alexandre Song (2-Augustin Binya 16), 19-Stephane Mbia,14-Joel Epalle (7-Modeste Mbami 65); 12-Alain Nkong,
9-Samuel Eto’o.

EGY: 1-Essam El Hadary; 5-Shady Mohamed, 6-Hany Said, 20-Wael Gomaa,
14-Sayed Moawad; 8-Hosny Abd Rabou, 7-Ahmed Fathy, 17-Ahmed Hassan©?, 22-Mohamed Aboutrika (4-Ibrahim Said 89); 10-Emad Moteab (9-Mohamed Zidan 60), 19-Amr Zaky (11-Mohamed Shawky 84).

On this day 10 February 2013 (Exactly 8 years ago today) Sunday Mba scored a magnificent winner as Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time.

The dominant Super Eagles made the breakthrough just before half-time when Mba clipped the ball over Mohamed Koffi and then volleyed into the far corner.

Burkina Faso almost equalised when Wilfried Sanou forced a fingertip save from goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

Ahmed Musa slipped as he looked set to score and Victor Moses almost poked home as Nigeria eased to victory.

It was a win that was fully deserved as Nigeria comfortably beat a tired-looking Burkina Faso, who struggled to make an impact in their maiden final appearance.

And perhaps it was one game too many for the Burkinabe, who had failed to win a single game on foreign soil in the Nations Cup before this tournament but shocked many by going so far this time.

However, credit must go to Nigeria and their coach Stephen Keshi, who captained the Super Eagles when they last won the title in 1994 and becomes only the second man to lift the trophy as a player and as a coach after Egyptian Mahmoud El Gohary.

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi proved his critics wrong after his selection policy was widely questioned before the tournament

It was also the first time for 21 years that a black African coach has won the cup – Ivory Coast’s Yeo Martial was the last to do so in 1992.

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi: “Winning this is mainly for my nation – when I came on board a year and a half ago my dream was to make all Nigerians happy, and to construct a great Nigerian team, We are not there yet, it’s still in process.

“You don’t want to know what was going through my head (in the final five minutes)! To represent Africa in Brazil at the Confed Cup is an honour for Nigeria.”

Burkina Faso coach Paul Put: “We showed Nigeria a bit too much respect in the first half – in the second half we tried to do everything possible. But you have to be big when you lose and small when you win.

“Possibly, we were a little tired after two matches that went to extra-time, but I’m not going to look for excuses. The whole of Burkina Faso can be proud of their players.”

Nigeria :Vincent Enyeama [c]; 5 Efe Ambrose, 22 Kenneth Omeruo, 14 Godfrey Oboabona, 3 Uwa Echiejile (21 Juwon Oshaniwa 67?); 10 Mikel John Obi, 17 Ogenyi Onazi; 19 Sunday Mba (2 Joseph Yobo 89?); 15 Ikechukwu Uche (7 Ahmed Musa 54?), 8 Ideye Brown,
11 Victor Moses.

Burkina Faso: 1 Daouda Diakité; 5 Mohamed Koffi, 4 Bakary Koné, 8 Paul Coulibaly (9 Moumouni Dagano 84?), 12 Saïdou Panandétiguiri; 6 Djakaridja Koné
(21 Abdou Razack Traoré 90?), 7 Florent Rouamba (20 Wilfried Sanou 65?);
22 Préjuce Nakoulma, 18 Charles Kaboré [c], 11 Jonathan Pitroipa; 15 Aristide Bancé.

Referee: Djamel Haïmoudi (Algeria)