By DPA
Kumasi (Ghana) : Egypt and Cameroon advanced Monday to the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations after beating Angola and Tunisia respectively.
Egypt will face Ivory Coast in a rematch of the 2006 final, while Tunisia will face Cameroon. Both semi-final games will be played Thursday.
Hosni Abd-Rabou and Ahmed Fathi scored for the defending champions in their 2-1 victory against Angola. It was Manucho who scored for Angola, while Geremi Njitap and a brace by Stephane Mbia won the game for Cameroon in their 3-2 extra-time win against Tunisia. Chaouki Ben Saada and Yacine Chikhaoui scored for the North Africans.
In Tamale, there was once again a small crowd to watch the game between the 2000 and 2002 champions Cameroon and the 2004 champions Tunisia, who clawed their way back into the game after being down two goals, only to lose it in extra time.
It was Cameroon that had the better start as Mbia converted a cross that Tunisian goalkeeper Hamdi Kasraoui failed to pick up in the 18th minute.
Just nine minutes later, Cameroon added a second as Radhouane Felhi brought down Jean Makoun on the edge of the area, and Newcastle’s Geremi scored from the resulting free kick, beating Kasraoui with a beautifully bent shot over the wall.
Tunisia pulled one back in the 34th minute with a similarly brilliant Ben Saada free kick, which he curled into the top corner.
The North Africans should have equalised in the 41st minute as Santos smashed the ball against the crossbar, from where it bounced to Ben Saada, whose shot was brilliantly saved by Cameroon goalkeeper Idriis Kameni.
The second half was less attractive as Cameroon sat back, allowing the Tunisians to come forward.
They were finally rewarded nine minutes from the end as Mohamadou Idrissou lost the ball to Sabeur Ben Frej, who pulled the ball back to Chikhaoui, who side-footed the ball past Kameni.
Cameroon again had the better start as Mbia grabbed his second with a volley from a long throw, just two minutes after the restart.
This time around, however, there was no coming back for the North Africans as Cameroon held onto their lead to advance into the last four.
“Nobody expected us to do well at this competition, but we wanted to be there on Sunday at the final,” Cameroon captain Rigobert Song said. “It was a very tough match, but we deserved the win.”
In the earlier game here, a disappointing crowd of just a few thousand saw defending champions Egypt take the lead midway through the first half after referee Yuichi Nichimura from Japan pointed to the spot for a handball, following a free kick by Mohamed Aboutreika, which the Al-Ahly midfielder slammed into the wall.
A number of Angolan players immediately surrounded the referee to complain. Some of them pushed him around and were lucky not to be booked.
Ismaily midfielder Hosni Abd-Rabou made no mistake from the spot, sending Angolan goalkeeper Lama the wrong way.
The Egyptian lead lasted just three minutes as Angola’s star player Manucho, who has signed with Manchester United but was loaned to Greek club Panathinaikos, scored another scorcher from well outside the area.
The second goal for Egypt in the 38th minute was rather fortunate as Ahmed Fathi’s cross into the area bounced against Amr Zaki and into the goal.
The Palencas Negras came agonisingly close to levelling matters a minute after the restart as Manucho ran onto a long ball and slipped it past goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, only for the ball to trickle past the upright.
The tall striker came close on the hour again as his shot from close range was brilliantly palmed away for a corner by the diving El-Hadary.
A short while later it was Lama, who pulled off a good save from an Emad Motaeb piledrive.
Egyptian midfielder Sayed Moawad said that they were now looking forward to defend the title: “The Ivory Coast is also very strong, and they will be looking for revenge for the defeat two years ago, but we will be prepared for it,” he said.
Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves said his side lacked luck.
“We have built a team that is strong enough to challenge the defending champions, and we have already beaten some of the big sides on the continent,” he said. “We are going forward, and Africa can know that we will be around for a while.”