By Xinhua
Accra (Ghana) : Defending champions Egypt defeated Cameroon 1-0 here to clinch the African Nations Cup for a record sixth time.
In the history of the African Nations Cup, it is only the third time that a defending champion made a successful title defence. Egypt and Cameroon had earlier achieved the feat in 1959 and 2002 respectively.
Both Mohamed Aboutrika and Amr Zaki Sunday had a few chances of providing Egypt the lead in the first half, but the former stroked the ball wide of the goal and the later whisked it over the crossbar.
Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o tried to take advantage from a blitz counter-attack, a tactic they successfully used in the semi-final against Ghana, but the Barcelona striker just missed the goal by inches.
After a goal-less first half, Egypt brought in substitute striker Mohamed Zidan into the field, who in the 76th minute scored the only goal of the match with a beautiful touch from a Aboutrika’s pass from the left wing.
Egypt leads the African Nations Cup title win record, while runners up Cameroon has achieved the feat four times so far.