Enlarge imageBy Brian Homewood
CAIRO (Reuters) - Hosts Egypt won the African Nations Cup for a record fifth time when they beat Ivory Coast 4-2 on penalties in the final on Friday.
Ivorian captain Didier Drogba missed the Elephants’ first spot kick when his effort was saved by Essam El Hadari as Egypt won the shootout following a goalless draw after extra time.
El Hadari was the hero of the night for the Egyptians when he also saved Ivory Coast’s third spot kick by Bakary Kone.
Drogba ended the match in tears, having missed a golden chance to win the game in the 79th minute when he fired over from close range before having his shootout penalty saved.
Egypt triumphed after having a ’goal’ disallowed for offside and missing a penalty -- the award of which was described as scandalous by Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel -- when Ahmed Hassan hit the post in the eighth minute of extra time.
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Egypt had won the Nations Cup on penalties before when they beat Cameroon in the final as hosts of the 1986 tournament.
Their win on Friday set off wild celebrations at the stadium, where President Hosni Mubarak was among a crowd of about 80,000.
Mubarak watched from a bullet-proof box, where he also handed out the medals after the game.
"We won the championship after a lot of effort and sweat and with support from the president (Mubarak), technical staff and players," said Egypt coach Hassan Shehata.
"The final match was a marathon. We exerted a lot of sweat and effort to please this great nation."
DISGRACED MIDO
The hosts were without disgraced striker Mido, who looked on from the press box after being kicked out of the squad for his tempestuous reaction towards his coach after being substituted in the 2-1 semi-final win over Senegal on Tuesday.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker, one of only four foreign-based players in Egypt’s squad, had scored the tournament’s opening goal in the 3-0 win over Libya but failed to hit the target after that.
Despite his modest contribution, Mido, who also missed one game with a groin strain, joined the team’s celebrations, picked up a medal from Mubarak and grabbed the trophy on the pitch.
"I’m very happy, I’m proud," he told reporters.
Michel said he was pleased with his Ivory Coast side, who dominated large parts of the match.
"I’m very proud of the team and everything we’ve done. In the second half we had good chances and, at that time, the Egyptians were dead physically," said the Frenchman.
"When you’ve got chances, you have to take them."
Ivory Coast, who unlike Egypt have qualified for this year’s World Cup in Germany, had a succession of chances at the end of the first half.
EL HADARI TESTED
Drogba was dispossessed by Abdelzaher El Saqqa as he homed in on goal, defender Kolo Toure shot wide from point blank range after a corner and Kanga Akale tested El Hadari with a low drive.
Zaki and El Saqqa had been close early on for Egypt, and they threatened again after halftime as Mohamed Aboutrika and Emad Moteab both headed over from good positions.
But Ivory Coast continued to look more dangerous.
Drogba, Arouna Kone and Emmanuel Eboue all shot wide from good positions before the Chelsea forward’s crucial miss.
Kone got to the byline and pulled the ball back but Drogba, who led his side to the final with three goals in the tournament, contrived to shoot over from point blank range.
Egypt hit back and appeared to have broken the deadlock in the 85th minute.
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.
The hosts, who escaped having what looked a clear late penalty awarded against them in the semi-final with Senegal, were given a controversial spot kick in the eighth minute of injury time for an alleged trip on Mohamed Barakat.
But Hassan, who had converted penalties in each of their last two games, saw his effort tipped on to the post by Tizie.
The Ivorians, already upset about a number of free kicks awarded around their area by Tunisian official Mourad Daami, were infuriated by the penalty.
"It was scandalous," said Michel. "It was robbery against Senegal and now it’s robbery against us too."
But Egypt coach Shehata was proud of his victorious players, with even Mido coming down on to the pitch where he joined in the celebrations with his jubilant team mates.
"This great achievement is dedicated to the Egyptian fans who stood by the national team," said Shehata. "God always rewards those who perfect what they do and we exerted huge efforts to win the championship until this dream came true."
