Africa Cup of Nations Quarterfinals Wrap Up 2.4.08

Another day of action at the Africa Cup of Nations. At the end of it all, we now have our four semi-finalists. Egypt withstood a good effort from plucky Angola to win 2-1, while Cameroon can consider themselves lucky to beat Tunisia 3-2 in extra time. Angola 1-2 Egypt Angola must have looked up with the word “plucky” in the dictionary before this game. Egypt scored first with a(nother) Hosny penalty after Aboutreika had been brought down in the box. The lead lasted just four minutes, until Manucho unleashed a rocket with his left foot from well outside the area, which caught the underside of the bar before going in. Manucho had already made a name for himself at this tournament, and this just confirmed his talent. Egypt won the game with an odd Ahmed Fathy goal . The midfielder met the ball at the far post and steered it home with either his belly or his hand, depending on which angle you watch it from. Angola had a couple of chances to level it up, and Manucho came close. But Egypt took control as the second half progressed and Lama had to produce several good saves to keep Angola in it. Egypt move on and have a realistic chance of retaining the trophy, but if Angola keep this up then Palancas Negras won’t be such underdogs when they host Africa Cup of Nations 2010. Cameroon 3-2 Tunisia AET Cameroon must have looked up the word “lucky” in the dictionary before this game. A really great game to watch, unless you’re Tunisian. First the Carthage Eagles went two goals down to an Mbia header (which may have involved a second body part, just not sure which one) and a stunning Geremi free-kick form some way away. It all looked very depressing. But Ben Saada’s equally stunning 33rd minute free-kick bent inside the near post and bought the Tunisia team back to life. They bravely battled on for the rest of the game in search of an equaliser, which came (at last) when the (finally) impressive Yassine Chikhaoui received a cut back from Ben Fredj and smashed past Kameni in the 81st minute. It was no less than the Carthage Eagles deserved and the game looked like it was Tunisia’s for the taking in extra time. Unfortunately for them extra time began with a Cameroon goal. A big throw-in from Atouba (a menace all day because they reach the penalty area like a corner) was flicked on for Mbia to strike low and give Cameroon the lead . An exhausted Tunisia spent the next 30 minutes chasing the game and had a couple of penalty calls waved away, but it wasn’t enough. Tunisia can exit Ghana 2008 with heads held high, but Cameroon go through to the semi-finals. [links to goals via 101 GreatGoals ] Both semi-finals take place on Thursday February 7th. Ghana vs Cameroon, Accra, 1800 GMT (1300 EST) Cote d’Ivoire vs Egypt, Kumasi, 2030 GMT (1530 EST)