Egypt sent a warning to rivals for their African Nations Cup crown when they crushed Cameroon 4-2 in the Group C opener in Kumasi on Tuesday. Striker Mohamed Zidan scored a double and Hosni Abd Rabou also struck twice for the five-times African champions with Samuel Eto'o netting Cameroon's two at the Baba Yara stadium.
Zambia took the early lead in the group courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Sudan in the later match. James Chamanga, drafted into the starting line-up in place of suspended captain Chris Katongo, took just one minute and 45 seconds to fire Zambia ahead. Jacob Mulenga headed the second six minutes after the interval and Felix Katongo was quickest to a parried save to add a third just before the hour.
However, all eyes were on the first game of the day featuring title holders Egypt and serious contenders Cameroon, who have won the title four times. The first half was one-sided with Hosni opening the scoring after 14 minutes with a penalty.
The Indomitable Lions were nowhere to be seen and fell two goals behind three minutes later when Zidan beat keeper Carlos Idriss Kameni from close range at the end of a swift counter-attack.
Worse was to come for Cameroon with Zidan giving Egypt a three-goal advantage at halftime with a wonderful shot that went under Kameni's crossbar. Even though Cameroon coach Otto Pfister reshuffled his midfield at halftime, Egypt were simply too good for the 2002 champions. Eto'o pulled a goal back on 51 minutes but his side's hopes were dashed nine minutes from time when Hosni scored his second with a 25-metre drive.
"We are not here just to be part of the tournament, we are here to win a second successive title," Zidan told Ghanaian television channel TV3. "We give everything, we have to be in the final in Accra." Eto'o doubled his personal tally in injury time with a penalty and is now only one goal short of the Nations Cup record of 14 set by Ivory Coast's Laurent Pokou in 1970.
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