The Young Pharaohs of Egypt waited until the second half of extra-time to break Ivory Coast in the final game of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations on Friday.
After Karim El Eraky had put the hosts ahead in the first half, substitute Aboubacar Doumbia brought in some energy and scored against the run of play to force the match into extra time. It was just five minutes to full time.
But the Egyptians managed to break the Ivorian defence after several asking as eventual Man of the Match and Most Valuable Player of the Tournament Ramadan Sobhi, who captains the team, responded quicker in attack to clinch the all-important winner.
The game ended 2-1 in favour of the hosts and in front of thousands of supporters at the Cairo International Stadium.
Egypt become the third winner of the tournament after Gabon, in 2011, and Nigeria, in 2015.
They picked the Fair Play Award with the coach, Shawky Gharieb, named Best Coach.
Their goalkeeper, Mohamed Sobhy, also received the Best Goalkeeper award.
He was among five players of the champions named in the Tournament XI.
Ghana’s Evans Mensah made it into that team.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
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