ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire
In what was one of the most
drama-filled Africa Cup of Nations clashes in recent memory, Cape Verde and
Egypt recorded an exciting 2-2 draw at Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny on Monday
night.Courtesy
Following Ghana and
Mozambique’s 2-2 stalemate in the adjacent fixture, Egypt finished in second
place in Group B and subsequently booked their spot in the Round of 16.
Cape Verde looked the more
progressive outfit during the first 10 minutes of the game and edged Egypt to
the ball possession count.
However, it was the Pharaohs
who came closest to scoring during this period.
Egypt came close to scoring in
the 19th minute after goalkeeper Vozinha was called into action and kept his
nation in the game with a telling save following a long-range effort by Omar
Marmoush.
The Pharaohs continued to grow
in confidence as the half-mark approached and actively searched for an opener.
The Pharaohs continued to turn
the screws as the half came to a close but often fell short at the final
hurdle.
In holding a deep defensive
line, the Blue Sharks struggled to work the ball up field for much of the first
45.
However, in what was a rare
attack for Cape Verde, Gilson Tavares opened the scoring on the stroke of
halftime.
After latching onto a loose
ball in the area, the striker’s snapshot on the turn caught goalkeeper Mohamed
El Shenawy completely off-guard.
Egypt put Cape Verde under
immense pressure during the early exchanges of the second half and created a
number of scoring chances in the process.
The Pharoahs’ pressure paid
off in the 50th minute, as second-half substitute Trezeguet added his name on
the scoreboard after a clever bit of interplay with Ahmed Hegazi inside the
penalty area.
Not holding back, both Egypt
and Cape Verde continued to showcase their attacking impetus as the cooling
break approached.
Nevertheless, it was Egypt who
edged Cape Verde to the ball during this period.
The likes of Emam Ashour and
Trezeguet came close to giving Egypt the lead toward the end of the game.
However, it was Mostafa
Mohamed who eventually put his country ahead in the 93rd minute.
Then, in a dramatic turn of
events, Bryan Teixeira popped up inside the Egypt box to score a 99th minute
equalizer from an acute angle.
Cape Verde: Vozinha,
Semedo, Costa, Diney, D.Tavares, Pina (Fernandes 75’), Mendes (Moreira 64’),
Andrade, Santos, Rodrigues (Monteiro 64’), G.Tavares (Teixeira 64’)
Egypt: El
Shenawy (Gabal 102’), Fotouh (Sharaf 46’), Abdelmonem, Hegazy, Hany, Ashour,
Attia, Fathi (Trezeguet 46’), Marmoush (M.Fathi 82’), Mohamed, Zizo (Kahraba
73’)
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