Different Paths: Egypt, Ghana Through to Cup of Nations Final
by Richard Farley on Jan 29, 2010 1:16 PM EST
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Egypt and Ghana are through to the African Cup of Nations finals, defeating Algeria and Nigeria (respectively) in Thursday's semifinals.
Egypt is now one win away from an unprecedented third consecutive Cup of Nations title, while the Black Stars reach their first final since 1992, seeking their first championship since 1982.
Ghana got there through a first half goal from Asamoah Gyan, his third o the tournament, headed home off a beautiful, in-swinging Kwadwo Asamoah corner. It was one of the few chances the Ghanians had, with the Super Eagles being the more ambitious side throughout.
But most of Nigeria's forays never manifested into more than half-chances, with credit due Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson, who read many players beautifully, coming off his line at the right time to destroy opportunities before they developed.
It was Ghana's third consecutive 1-0 win, and after the match Gyan admitted that the team has developed a conservative tact. The only match Ghana has not won 1-0 was their tournament opener against Côte d'Ivoire, a 3-1 loss. Since, Milovan Rajevac's formula for success has been identical: early goal, slow down the match, win.
Now he gets the opportunity to try that approach against an Egypt side that has scored 14 goals while allowing only two, a difference buffered by Thursday's 4-0 win over Algeria.
The landslide started just before half when Algeria fullback Rafik Halliche - having an otherwise strong tournament - was shown a second yellow card in giving away a penalty kick, leading to the first goal. In the second half, the Algerians lost their composure after Mohamed Zidan put Egypt up two.
Nadir Belhadj earned a straight red for a dangerous tackle, while goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi was shown a second yellow after intentionally trying to kick an Egyptian player.
An embarrassed Desert Foxes side would finish with eight men, allowing Egypt to gain a measure of revenge.
More after the jump, but first, here is the knock-out round table, courtesy of Wikipedia.
| Quarter finals | Semi finals | Final | ||||||||
| 24 January – Luanda | ||||||||||
 Angola |
0 | |||||||||
| 28 January – Luanda | ||||||||||
 Ghana |
1 | |||||||||
| Ghana |
1 | |||||||||
| 25 January – Lubango | ||||||||||
 Nigeria |
0 | |||||||||
 Zambia |
0 (4) | |||||||||
| 31 January – Luanda | ||||||||||
| Nigeria |
0 (5) | |||||||||
| Ghana |
||||||||||
| 24 January – Cabinda | ||||||||||
 Egypt |
||||||||||
 Côte d'Ivoire |
2 | |||||||||
| 28 January – Benguela | ||||||||||
 Algeria |
3 | |||||||||
| Algeria |
0 | Third place | ||||||||
| 25 January – Benguela | ||||||||||
| Egypt |
4 | |||||||||
| Egypt |
3 | Nigeria |
||||||||
 Cameroon |
1 | Algeria |
||||||||
| 30 January – Benguela | ||||||||||
In the context of this tournament, Egypt and Ghana have come from different sides of town.
Ghana came in flying high, the first African team to qualify for the World Cup. Egypt was dramatically eliminated from the World Cup in a playoff loss to Algeria.
Egypt is the two-time defending champion. Ghana has not won a title since 1982, in which time every African soccer power has won the event at least once, and even (now) second-level powers like Algeria, South Africa, and Tunisia have titles.
Ghana's future is in front of them, being the country that won last summer's U-20 World Cup. Egypt's squad is dominated by players in their thirties, many of whom may be playing in their last Cup of Nations.
Ghana's strength is through the midfield, where a series of skilled, strong, athletic midfielders have controlled their last three matches. Egypt's most dangerous down the wings, getting players like Ahmed Al-Mohammady down the right flank and extend the opposition defense (or frustrate them, as he did Belhadj).
Ghana has had modest success in this tournament, posting one goal in each match while allowing three in four fixtures. Egypt has steamrolled, posting a 7:1 goals for, goals allowed ratio.
While Egypt's stout defending, ability to get down the flanks, previous results, experience in this tournament and - oh yeah, this - arguably the better team, it's difficult to pick Ghana to win this match.
Except for what happens if Ghana gets the first goal, again. What if they can then lay back, let Egypt come to them, and not risk getting caught out by an Egyptian counter.
Does that formula sound familiar?
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This begs the question though
Why is it that Egypt is better in the African Cup of Nations and not World Cup Qualifying and while no one answer is correct the simple explanation is the short tournaments produce easier achievable goals rather than a drawn out qualification process the punishes losses with only one team going through the group.
Obviously Algeria played their clincher brilliantly; score first and hold the line, which is exactly what they did. But the other thing that Egypt has failed to do is pick itself up after a goal. If Ghana is to win this mentality of putting it in the back of the net and defending will put immense strain on the Pharaohs and until they prove to the world that they have the mental fortitude for a comeback, should allow for a Black Stars victory.
It is scary though to see how good Ghana has gotten at all levels especially after their U-20 World Cup victory. On the flip its safe to say that after failing to qualify for the U-20 World Cup finals; this is the weakest generation produced by the Argentineans. Agree?
