Enlarge imageBy Brian Homewood
CAIRO (Reuters) - Hosts Egypt won the African Nations Cup on Friday, beating Ivory Coast 4-2 on penalties after Didier Drogba missed the Elephants’ first kick.
Drogba’s effort was saved by Essam El Hadari as Egypt won the shootout following a goalless draw after extra time. El Hadari also saved Ivory Coast’s third spot kick by Bakary Kone.
Egypt had won the Nations Cup on penalties before when they beat Cameroon in the final as hosts of the 1986 tournament.
Egypt had a ’goal’ disallowed for offside in the 85th minute of Friday’s final and missed a penalty when Ahmed Hassan’s kick was deflected on to the post in the eighth minute of extra time.
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Ivory Coast captain Drogba could have sewn it up before then as he fired over from close range in the 79th minute.
Backed by a fanatical crowd in a stadium which appeared to be filled beyond its 74,000 capacity, Egypt applied the early pressure.
Amr Zaki broke clear of the offside trap on the right and shot across the face of the goal in the fifth minute before an Abdelzaher El Saqqa free kick went through the wall and just wide of the goal.
Zaki, replacing disgraced striker Mido who was dropped for his furious protest after being substituted in the 2-1 win over Senegal in the semi-final on Tuesday, was also close with a hooked shot on the turn.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Mido, meanwhile, watched the game from the press box after being listed as absent on the official team sheet.
CLEAR-CUT CHANCES
The Elephants came into the game just before halftime as they created three clear-cut chances.
A slick break out of defence found Drogba homing in on goal but he was superbly dispossessed by El Saqqa on the edge of the penalty area.
Defender Kolo Toure then shot wide from point blank range at the far post following a corner before Kanga Akale tested El Hadari with a low, powerful drive from 20 metres.
Egypt’s Mohamed Aboutrika and Emad Moteab both headed over from good positions early in the second half but the Elephants continued to look dangerous on the break.
Arouna Kone sent a low shot whizzing past the near post from 20 metres before a long pass out of defence found Drogba in his favourite position, running in towards goal from the flank.
However, he sent a low, raking drive wide of the post.
Shortly afterwards, Chelsea forward Drogba wasted a free kick in a good postion from about 25 metres by shooting straight at the wall.
In the 75th minute, Emmanuel Eboue wasted another good chance when he broke free on the right of the area but shot wildly wide after a neat Ivorian move across the field.
The final 15 minutes of normal time were dramatic.
Drogba fired over from close range after Kone pulled the ball back from the byline, then Egypt thought they had scored with only five minutes of normal time left.
Zaki scrambled the ball home after Ivory Coast keeper Jean-Jacques Tizie made a superb double save but the home fans were disappointed as his effort was disallowed for offside.
Egypt were awarded a controversial penalty in the eighth minute of injury time for a trip on Mohamed Baraket but Hassan, who had converted penalties in each of their last two games, saw his effort tipped on to the post by Tizie.
Ivory Coast kept pressing forward in the final period, forcing El Hadari to dive at the feet of Kone before Eboue shot over after a one-two with the same player.
