Pharaohs’ delight as Ivory Coast pay penalty

Egypt 0 Ivory Coast 0 (Egypt win 4-2 on penalties)

After a disappointing 120 minutes finished goalless, Mohamed Aboutrika was given the chance to earn the Egyptians their first title since 1998 after Didier Drogba and Bakary Kone had seen their spot-kicks saved by goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari.

And the midfielder did not fluff his opportunity as he sent Jean-Jacques Tizie the wrong way to spark wild scenes of jubilation in Cairo International Stadium.

Egypt had squandered a great chance to avoid the penalty shoot-out drama when captain Ahmed Hassan missed a spot-kick in the first half of extra time.

In truth, the game should not have even got that far, Drogba - who struggled to impose himself throughout - shot wildly over from six yards out in the 77th minute with the goal at his mercy.

These, however, were the few stand-out moments in an often soporific encounter, but Egypt will not care a jot as they added another title to their haul, which has seen them win in 1957, 1959, 1986 and 1998.

They also gained a mite of revenge over the Ivorians, who beat the Egyptians to qualification for this summer’s World Cup finals.

The opening exchanges were notable for some feisty challenges rather than any free-flowing football.

But the game eventually settled down and Amr Zaki, who started in place of the dropped Mido, wasted the first real opportunity, scuffing a shot wide of goalkeeper Tizie’s far post from the right side of the penalty area.

A low, curling free-kick from Abdelzaher El Saqqa also squirmed wide of the upright in the 10th minute as the hosts upped the pressure early on.

They received a blow in the 20th minute when inspirational defender Wael Gomaa hobbled off minutes after he was on the receiving end of Yaya Toure’s outstretched boot.

Ahmed Fathi came on as his replacement but it did not seem to hamper Egypt, who were shackling the threat of Ivory Coast strike duo Drogba and Arouna Kone with relative ease.

Indeed Al Hadari was tested only once in the opening 45 minutes, in injury time, when he dived to his left to keep out Kanga Akale’s sweetly struck 25-yarder.

Ivory Coast threw on an extra attacker in Bonaventure Kalou for the final half hour and it sparked them to life as Drogba, up to this anonymous, drove a low, angled shot wide of the post after the Chelsea striker had run onto Blaise Kossi Kouassi’s diagonal ball.

The Elephants should have broken the deadlock in the 77th minute when Drogba fired over the bar from six yards after Arouna Kone had rolled an inviting ball across the area.

Egypt thought they had won it six minutes later when Zaki prodded home after Tizie could only parry out Mohamed Barakat’s 25-yard drive. But the effort was disallowed after Mohamed Shawki was rightly adjudged offside.

The final chance of normal time fell to Drogba, but he could not wrap his left foot around a deep Emmanuel Eboue cross.

The controversial penalty arrived when Kouassi was adjudged to have brought down Barakat in the area in the 94th minute. Hassan’s spot-kick crashed off a post and the ball was cleared to safety.

Al Hadari tipped over substitute Bakary Kone’s fierce drive after 101 minutes while in the second half of extra time, Eboue missed from close range.

In penalties, Egypt saw Hassan, Mohamed Abdelwahab, Zaki and Aboutrika score and Abdelhalim Ali miss.

The Ivorians netted through Arsenal duo Kolo Toure and Eboue but two other misses proved costly.

EGYPT: El Hadari, Wahab, Said (Ali 113), El Saka, Gomaa (Fathi 21), Shawky, Barakat, Hassan, Aboutriaka, Moteb (Mostafa 81), Zaki.

IVORY COAST: Tizie, Boka, K Toure, Kouassi, Eboue, Zokora, Fae, G Toure (Kone 91), Akale (Kalou 80), Kone, Drogba.

Referee: Mourad Daami.