ACN Final: Ghana vs Egypt preview

Well boys and girls this is it, the last match of the African Cup of Nations Egypt 6 times African Champion & defending Champs playing the Black Stars Ghana 4 times African Champs & on there way to south Africa FIFA world cup 2010.

After 20 days of excitement, Africa Cup of Nations will be closed with the final match between Ghana and Egypt. Both sides have already exceeded expectations but they are eager to go one step further and we should see a very intense affair, albeit probably without too many goals. The Pharaohs are the favorites after the impressive performances they have shown so far but the Black Stars of Ghana do not see it that way.

Winning ugly!

As we have predicted, Ghana managed to eliminate Nigeria and make it to the final even though their performance was far from impressive. Deprived of his big stars, boss Milovan Rajevac preferred defensive approach to adventurous one the Black Stars tend to adopt and that produced great results. The Serbian coach led his side to the final of the competition and that is a bog success seeing it was achieved without players like Essien, Appiah, Muntari, Mensah and Paintsil. The boss is aware his side have to be wary of Egypt’s swift counterattacks and he is, therefore, set to adopt a defensive approach in an attempt not to leave the Pharaohs a lot of space.

Milovan Rajevac is unlikely to make a lot of changes to the starting line-up after such a good defensive performance against Nigeria, although Haminu Draman could replace Opoku Agyemang. Keeper Richard Kingson produced a stunning performance against Nigeria even though he was playing with a thigh injury and there is no way he will miss this final even if it means playing under the pain barrier. The Black Stars will again line up in 4-5-1 formation with Asamoah Gyan as a lone striker, who proved to be a real match winner, having scored both goals in last two games.

Egypt hammered Algeria

The 4:0 win over Algeria was the perfect revenge for the defeat that cost the Pharaohs the place at the World Cup and it also allowed them to fight for the third successive Africa Cup of Nations title. During the entire tournament, the Egyptians have been taking advantage of the mistakes their opponents were making and the same thing happened against Algeria. The Pharaohs are aware they will have a tough task against defense oriented Ghana side and they will probably play very cautiously, which is why they are unlikely to continue the impressive scoring record.

Hassan Shehata is set to field the same starting side to that which started the Algeria match, which basically translates to eight defensive players plus Zidan and Motaeb. The two strikers are very quick and skillful, which makes them a real nuisance for opposition defenses, especially when they act on the break and Ghana defense will have big problems containing the pair.

Prediction

Milovan Rajevac is aware his side cannot afford to enter the open battle with Egypt since that is when the Pharaohs are the most dangerous and the Black Stars have to continue playing defensive football and hope to hit the opponents on the break. Egypt will adopt exactly the same approach.

Egypt 1 – 0 Ghana

Here some of Egypt’s Goals in the tournament: