The greatest moment of the AFCON is undoubtedly Egypt’s triumph in Luanda, Angola, when they defeated Ghana 1-0.
AFCON has had so many great and interesting moments but none can come closer to Egypt’s triumph in Egypt (06), Ghana (08) and Angola (2010).
Magical, fabulous, shocking and unimaginable are the words one can use to describe Egypt’s ability to win three Africa Cup of Nations on three successive occasions.
The Egyptian Football Association, Hassan Shehata, The Pharaohs and the entire nation deserve huge credit for the different roles they played in winning the tournament back-to-back-to-back in a fabulous four years.
AFCON 2006, Egypt
In AFCON 2006, Egypt won by beating Ivory Coast twice, beating Cameroon and Senegal with a team that had the spine of 20 local-based players and 3 European-based players. Ahmed Mido was with Tottenham Hotspurs in England, Ahmed Hasan was with Besiktas in Turkey and Amr Zaki was a Wigan player in England.
The core of Shehata’s squad had 9 Al Ahly players with Essam El Hadary, Wael Gomaa, Emad Motaeb, Abdelwahab, Mohamed Aboutrika, Barakat, and Shawky all starting in the finals against Ivory Coast. It was a wonderful moment as they were able to match the star-studded Ivory Coast under Henri Michel.
Egypt won 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in 120 minutes with Ahmed Hasan being crowned as the best player of the tournament.
2008 AFCON, Ghana
In 2008, Ghana hosted the AFCON as Egypt came and conquered every team including two victories over much-fancied Cameroon in the group stage and finals.
Egypt’s best display in the 2008 AFCON was when they thrashed Ivory Coast led by Didier Drogba and the Toure brothers 4-1 in the semi-finals in Kumasi at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in front of 30,000 spectators.
7 players that started the 2006 finals against Ivory Coast started against Cameroon at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium in Accra in the finals. Essam El Hadary, Wael Gomaa, Ahmed Hassan, Hosny Abd Rabo, Mohamed Aboutrika, Emad Motaeb and Amr Zaki all started in the 1-0 victory over Cameroon with Aboutrika scoring the winner in the 7th minute as Egypt defended successfully their title. Hosny Abd Rabo won the best player of the tournament.
AFCON 2010, Angola
Egypt began their title defence on a higher note in Angola with a 3-1 win over Nigeria followed by 2-0 wins over Mozambique and Benin in the group stage.
In the Quarter-finals, Egypt won 3-1 after 1-1 in 90 minutes with Gedo and Ahmed Hassan’s 92nd and 104th-minute goals eliminating Cameroon.
It was so easy in the semi-finals as Shehata’s Pharaohs walloped their rivals, Algeria, 4-0 with goals from Abd Rabo, Zidan, Abdel-Shafy and Gedo.
All eyes were on Ghana to stop Egypt from doing the unthinkable. At the Estadio 11 Novembro in Luanda, Angola, Ghana lost 1-0 against Egypt to Gedo Mohammed’s 85th-minute strike. Essam El-Hadary, Wael Gomaa, Hosny Abd Rabo, Ahmed Hassan, and Emad Motaeb all started the previous (2008) finals. Ahmed Hassan won the Best Player of the tournament.
History was made on 31st January 2010 as Egypt won the AFCON third time in succession. It will take 10 decades before any team on the continent can equal this record.
Egypt indeed dominated the continent as they worked hard, dedicated themselves and showed immense commitment before winning the AFCON consecutively.
Egypt beat all the big boys on the continent in a space of four years (1,472 days) as they were unmatched from all angles. Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Algeria, Senegal and Ghana were all beaten by Egypt.
