Fortunate bounce puts Egypt in last four

A fortunate bounce off the body of striker Amr Zaki was enough to ensure Egypt retained hopes of a successful African Nations Cup title defence with a 2-1 win over Angola in their quarter-final yesterday.

Zaki's 38th-minute goal proved the winner at Kumasi's Baba Yara stadium, setting up a semi-final with the Ivory Coast at the same venue on Thursday.

Angola's Kali failed to clear a cross from Sayed Moawad and the ball spun right in front of goal, bouncing up just above the knees of Zaki and off him into the net.

Egypt had opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Angola captain Andre jumped up to block a free-kick on the edge of the area and the ball hit his hand. Hosni Abd Rabou converted for his fourth goal of the tournament.

The lead lasted all of four minutes before Manucho thundered a cracking left-footed shot from outside the penalty area.

Egypt had a series of second half opportunities thwarted by Angola goalkeeper Lama.

"Angola played with tactics and great heart but we had a really good game. We are looking forward to playing the Ivorians," said Egypt assistant coach Shawky Gharib.

Angola faded out of the contest in the closing stages of their first appearance in the quarter-finals.

"We were not lucky today," said Angola coach Luis Goncalves. "We have built a team that has the strength to challenge the holders and we have already beaten some of the big sides. Africa can count on us to be around for a while."

Other result: Tunisia vs Cameroon 2-3 (after extra-time).