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Wednesday Football
23 January 2008
by Jerrad Peters

African Nations Cup
The football world was let in on a little secret, yesterday. And, much to the dismay of Hamburger SV, word is spreading like wildfire.

It seems that Africa has turned out its latest gem. Not gold; not a diamond deposit – but no matter. The reaction has been the same. Whenever the continent unearths anything of value, prying hands are never far away.

Truth be told, Mohamed Zidan began his career in the most inconspicuous of circumstances. As a teenager, he left Egypt for Europe. Port Said’s El-Masry did not fancy him a good enough passer of the ball. As a result, the 16-year-old abandoned football and moved to Denmark with his family.

Just months later, a scout from Akademisk Boldklub came upon the young Zidan playing keepie-uppie in a Copenhagen park. The club promptly signed him to a professional contract; and over 51-matches seasons at Gladsaxe Stadium, he produced a respectable return of 12-goals.

Akademisk, however, came upon financial difficulties in 2003 and were forced to sell the 22-year-old striker to FC Midjylland. It was in Ikast that Zidan become the top finisher in Danish football. Having been named the Superliga’s top young player in 2003-2004, his 30-goals over 47-matches earned a transfer to German champions Werder Bremen.

At the Weserstadion, Zidan burst out of the gate. He notched 10-goals in three friendly, pre-season games before scoring in back-to-back contests to start the Bundesliga campaign. Nevertheless, with Miroslav Klose and Ivan Klasnic bearing the brunt of the goalscoring responsibility for the reigning league and cup winners, Zidan was loaned to FSV Mainz for the remainder of the season.

The Egyptian was an instant hit at Stadion am Bruchweg. During his initial stint at the club, he produced 9-goals in 26-appearances. The following January, he was purchased outright by the relegation-threatened side. Now 25-years-old, he responded by bagging 6-goals in 5-matches. At season’s end, he had totaled an incredible 13-goals in 15-games. Mainz, however, were relegated; and Zidan was sold to Hamburg.

By virtue of his superb run of form from January to May, Zidan was named to Hassan Shehata’s Egyptian squad for the 2008 African Nations Cup. Prior to yesterday’s opener against highly-regarded Cameroon, the 26-year-old had been capped a paltry six times.

He did not disappoint. As he has done for each club on his CV, Zidan came gangbusters out of the starting block. With two goals before the interval, he had Egypt well on its way to taming the Indomitable Lions. Both were wonderful goals. Before a quarter of an hour had elapsed from the referee’s watch, he took the ball in his own half, traded passes with Emad Moteab, and dribbled through the Cameroonian defense before putting Egypt 2-0 ahead. Just two minutes prior, Abd Rabou had successfully converted a penalty after Reading defender Andre Bikey handled the ball inside the area.

On the stroke of half-time, Zidan was at it again. This time, instead of weaving through a crowd of stupefied defenders, he brought the ball under control with his chest and unleashed a cannon from outside the 18-yard box.

Cameroon finally looked dangerous after the break and began to create scoring opportunities. Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o quickly took advantage of his side’s pressure just six minutes after the restart when he headed a Geremi cross past Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El Hadari.

From there, the match seemed to settle. Egypt’s midfield soaked up what pressure Cameroon mustered; and Eto’o, in particular, appeared to be growing more and more frustrated. He completed a brace in added-time, however. The last-minute penalty was his 13th-goal in African Nations Cup competition – level with Nigeria’s Rashidi Yekini for second-place behind all-time leading scorer Laurent Pokou of Cote d’Ivoire.

In Tuesday’s other match, diminutive Zambia surprised Sudan with a 3-0 win in Kumasi. The scoreline was somewhat deceptive, however. For much of the 90-minutes, the Sudanese dominated the centre of the park. Haitham Mustapha, in particular, seemed to control the midfield.

Still, even the efforts of the 30-year-old Al-Hilal field-marshal could not produce a goal for the Nile Crocodiles. As it happened, they were on the back-heel from the get-go. After just 2-minutes of play, James Chamanga completed a neat one-two with Strasbourg’s Jacob Mulenga. Still, Sudan were intent on pressing forward. Eight minutes after the opener, Badreldin El Doud hit the woodwork from just beyond Zambia’s 18-yard-box. The score remained 1-0 as the sides entered the tunnel at the break; but Sudan were unlucky not to be on level terms.

Their task became all the more difficult when Zambia went 2-0 up shortly after the restart. After Clive Hachilensa’s effort hit the bar, Mulenga headed past Sudanese goalkeeper Elmuiz Abdalla for a two-goal lead. The spread was further extended just nine minutes later when Felix Katongo turned a Rainford Kalaba rebound behind Abdalla.

Surprisingly atop Group C, Zambia’s will face a more difficult test against Cameroon on Saturday. Joint-leaders Egypt, meanwhile, will battle geographical neighbors Sudan.