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Egypt eliminated from African Cup
Four-time African Cup of Nations winners Egypt were eliminated from the 2004 competition by the slimmest of margins on Tuesday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:05 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Monastir, Tunisia:
Four-time African Cup of Nations winners Egypt were eliminated from the 2004 competition by the slimmest of margins on Tuesday. The Pharaohs' nil-nil draw with Cameroon in Monastir was not good enough to see them qualify from Group C, despite Algeria's shock two-one loss to Zimbabwe. Algeria now join Cameroon in the knockout stage of the tournament by virtue of scoring one more goal than their North African rivals. Egypt coach Mohsen Saleh responded to the bitter disappointment by announcing his resignation hours after the match. Egypt were playing for their 2004 African Cup of Nations survival on Tuesday. Chasing a record fifth Cup of Nations title, Mohsen Saleh's team realistically needed to beat Group C leaders Cameroon, the only other team to win the competition four times, to keep their dream alive. And it could have started disastrously for the North Africans if tournament top-scorer Patrick Mboma had made more of Geremi's dangerous freekick. In the sweltering heat of Monastir, the tense affair threatened to boil over - Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam's challenge on Idriss Kameni was not appreciated by the Cameroon defenders. Egypt's struggle for the breakthrough continued after the break. In the 66th minute, Tarek El Sayed came closest to opening the scoring - his ferocious shot beat Kameni but not the upright. Time was running out for the Pharaohs. With news that Algeria, who were two-nil down to Zimbabwe at one point, had pulled a goal back in Soussa, Saleh's men had to win to progress. But Bechir Al Tabei's tame free-kick two minutes into time added on would be the last chance for the 1998 winners. Two minutes later, the final whistle confirmed Egypt's misery - Hocine Achiou's 73rd-minute strike for Algeria meant they scored one more goal than their North African rivals and would join Cameroon in the next round - Egypt were out. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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