ADVERTISEMENT

Top 4 Ghana - Egypt clashes

Ahead of this weekend's crunch 2018 World Cup qualifier, Pulse Sports' Fiifi Anaman recounts the four most memorable encounters between Africa's most successful football nations.

This was the first ever meeting between both sides. Ghana, with a national team that had only been playing since the early 50s, were going up against an Egyptian national side that had been playing since 1920 and had already been to a World Cup.

Alongside Nigeria, the duo had been drawn into a group as part of qualification for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. All of these teams were to play each other in a home-away series to produce a group winner that would advance to the next round of qualifying.

The game was highly publicized due to the peculiar interest that Ghana's Primer Minister Kwame Nkrumah had in it: his wife, Fathia, was an Egyptian.

This fixture, played in Cairo, saw the Egyptians - then known as the United Arab Republic - beat Ghana by two goals to nil, via a brace from striker Hilmy Rafaat.

ADVERTISEMENT

But, despite the result, the Ghana team - featuring legends such as winger Baba Yara, captain C.K Gyamfi and Aggrey Fynn - was praised by the Egyptian press for having been unlucky, as they had played way better than their hosts.

Egypt would lose the second leg 2-0 back in Accra, but they would eventually qualify from the group after thrashing Nigeria 9-2 on aggregate.

It had rained heavily, making the pitch at the Omiya Park Soccer Stadium in Omiya, Saitama heavily waterlogged.

The Black Stars, who had become the first Sub-Saharan African nation to qualify for the Olympics, were to play the Egyptians - then still known as the UAR - in a quarter-final at the football tournament of the Tokyo 1964 Olympics.

In the end, the Stars struggled to keep their feet on the pitch. They were torn apart by a brutally efficient Egypt side, who brought their superior technique and experience to the big stage, sending the Ghanaians them crashing out of the tournament. Prior to that game, Ghana had qualified out of a group containing Argentina and hosts Japan.

ADVERTISEMENT

Egypt's victory celebrations were short-lived, though. In the semis, they were given a taste of their own medicine, suffering a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of eventual winners Hungary.

In Angola, Ghana had made its first Africa Cup of Nations final since 1992, coming face to face with an Egypt side who were playing in their third consecutive final, having won the two previous ones against the Ivory Coast (2006) and Cameroon (2008).

The Egyptians would succeed in making it a remarkable three-peat, a seventh title overall. A lone goal from super-sub Mohamed 'Gedo' Nagy - who would finish the tournament as the top scorer with five goals - gave Egypt a narrow victory over the Ghanaians at the Estádio 11 de Novembro in Luanda. It was Ghana's fourth Afcon final loss, after 1968, 1970 and 1992.

It was Ghana's fourth Afcon final loss, after 1968, 1970 and 1992. They would go on to lose another in 2015 against the Ivory Coast.

In the presence of about 45,000 spectators at Ghana's famed Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi, a highly anticipated fixture that was supposed to be highly competitive ended up being a historic one-sided affair.

ADVERTISEMENT

In what was the first leg of the last (knockout) round of 2014 World Cup qualifying, the Black Stars of Ghana put up perhaps its finest modern era display, scoring as many as six goals to bury the Egyptians prematurely, rendering the second leg to 'mere formality' status.

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan scored a brace, with Majeed Waris, Sulley Muntari and Christian Atsu joining the demolition, which also included an own goal from Wael Gomaa. The talismanic Mohammed Aboutrika was the lone goal hero for an Egyptian side that couldn't believe the magnitude of their own capitulation.

Egypt went on to win the return leg 2-1 in Cairo, but it was never going to be enough to buy a ticket to Brazil. Ghana thus went on to make their third consecutive World Cup appearance, with the Egyptians rueing a missed opportunity to return to the World Cup for the first time since 1990.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT