Cape Verde hold Egypt but Pharaohs scrape through

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.

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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’)